It felt like a party at Plaza Vaquero as the Persians were celebrating their new year.

The Persian New Year always starts on the first day of spring which was on March 20 this year. A few weeks before the New Year, Iranians clean and rearrange their homes. They make new clothes, bake pastries and germinate seeds as a sign of renewal.

The ceremonial cloth is handmade with nice patters and all sorts of colors and it is set up in each household. Troubadours, referred to as Haji Firuz, disguise themselves with makeup and wear brightly colored outfits of satin. The Persian Club on campus also celebrates the New Year, but they do it with a bit of a twist.

The Persian Club organized this great event to celebrate the Persian New Year at GCC to let other people know about the Persian culture. The food, music, and Persian artifacts attracted many people to stop and see what all the enjoyment was about.

If you were by Plaza Vaquero on March 25 at noon you could not have missed the long line of people waiting to get a taste of the kabob, and you surely could not have missed people dancing to the beautiful music.
Yes, that is what should be expected when the Persians get together to celebrate their new year; nothing but fun and enjoyment.

“We organized it, collected money from our students and we paid for everything to make this work. We are doing this to show the value of the Persian culture,” said Persian Club President Shant Sebag.

It seemed as though the Persian culture has appealed to everyone. Whether it was the tasty kabob, the beautiful decorations, or just the happiness a person feels just being around Persians, people of all races are beginning to enjoy being around these types of events.
“We are just trying to bring everyone together with music and delicious food,” Persian Club member Armen Minasian said.

The food was the talk of the event. Kabob has spread to almost all cultures and has become very popular in many cultures.

“It’s the kabob, just delicious. This is the food that I love to eat,” said Marisol Alfonso, a student at GCC.

The beautiful arts and crafts made people stare in amazement. There was everything that resembled the culture from the famous Persian rugs to beautiful hand-made artifacts.

These date back to as early as 226 A.D. Many pieces of art and metalwork that Iran is famous for originated in the Persian culture.
Members of the club showed off their great handicraft skills and put them on display for everyone to see.

“Everything is just perfect,” said one of the spectators who enjoyed the festivities.

The music was electrifying. The people who did not want to dance ended up dancing anyway.

DJ Artin, who DJ’s for a living showed his love for making people dance.
He played Persian music, and a lot of feet started moving toward the dancing area.

Students and non-students from many cultures could not help but move their feet to the music.

“I enjoy making people dance very much. This is my hobby and my life,” said DJ Artin.

The event ended at 1 p.m., but everybody was having such a good time that they were not ready to leave, and kept on dancing. well after the event was scheduled to be over.

“This is always a great event and each year we enjoy doing it,” Sebag said.