About Sizdah Bedar (Nature Day)
Sizdah Bedar, officially known in Iran as Nature Day, is the joyful close of the Nowruz holidays. Falling on the 13th day of Farvardin — the thirteenth day of the Persian New Year — it sends families and friends out of doors for a great day of picnics in parks, gardens and the countryside. The name means roughly "getting rid of thirteen", as people spend the traditionally unlucky thirteenth day outside, in the open air, rather than indoors.
The day's best-known custom is throwing the sabzeh — the dish of sprouted wheat or lentil greens grown for the Nowruz haft-sin table — into running water, carrying away the year's bad luck and illness. Picnics are filled with food, games, music and dancing, and in some traditions young single people tie knots in blades of grass while making a wish for marriage in the year to come. After a fortnight of New Year visits, it is a relaxed national day outdoors.
Because Sizdah Bedar falls on the 13th day after Nowruz, which is set by the spring equinox, its Gregorian date lands on April 1 or 2 each year. It is an official public holiday in Iran. The live countdown above tracks the next Nature Day automatically. Add it to your own page to count down to the final, open-air day of the Persian New Year.
Upcoming dates
| 2027 | Friday, April 2, 2027next |
| 2028 | Saturday, April 1, 2028 |
FAQ
When is Sizdah Bedar?
Sizdah Bedar falls on the 13th day of Nowruz, which lands on April 1 or 2 each year depending on the spring equinox. The countdown above shows the exact next date.
Why is Sizdah Bedar important?
It is Iran's Nature Day and the joyful close of the Nowruz holidays, when families spend the unlucky thirteenth day outdoors to shed bad luck and welcome spring.
How is Sizdah Bedar celebrated?
With picnics in parks and countryside, games and music, and the custom of throwing the Nowruz sabzeh greens into running water to carry away misfortune.
What does Sizdah Bedar mean?
It means roughly "getting rid of thirteen" — spending the traditionally unlucky thirteenth day of the year outside in nature rather than at home.