Food, music and family brought the Iranian communities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans together Saturday. The festivities, sponsored by the Persian Association of LSU, honored two celebrations: Yalda and Sadeh.
The intimate party scene consisted of many well-dressed attendees. Candles signifying the Sadeh Celebration lined the walls and Iranian music filled the air.
Refreshments included zoolbia, a pastry made of egg yolks similar in shape to a funnel cake, and many varieties of fruit.
At first, the guests politely mingled, but the Iranian music brought the party to center stage.
Many college-age party-goers and teenagers danced to tunes by Leila Foroohar and Googoosh, pop musicians with infectious rhythms, as their parents and other adults watched. Foroohar and Googoosh are similar in status to Michael Jackson in Iran.
The obvious sense of familiarity and community is easy to explain.
“I have grown up with these people,” said Monty Aghazadeh, a biological sciences sophomore. “We have been dancing like this since we were young.”
While the pop music is fun and entertaining, many prefer the traditional Iranian music using the sitar, a guitar-like instrument, and the santoors, which is similar to a xylophone.
Women and men exhibited rhythmic dance moves and formed a circle to observe the best dancers’ moves.
Some dancers used cloth handkerchiefs to emphasize their arm movements and add flair to the dance. PAL began in 2003 with the goal to observe and honor Iranian traditions and holidays.
The purpose of PAL is to promote knowledge of Persian culture and create a united community in Baton Rouge and at LSU, said PAL president Pedram Taheri, a pre-interior design junior.
There are approximately 300 to 400 Iranians in the Baton Rouge community, said PAL vice president Afsaneh Sabahi.
PAL is collecting donations to send to Bam, a city in southeastern Iran that was particularly devastated by the recent earthquakes in Iran. Donations will be sent through PAL to the Iranian Red Crescent.
An article published in the Iran Chamber Society publication written by Massoume Price, an Iranian social anthropologist and human ecologist, said the festival of Yalda is celebrated on the first day of the month “Day.” The last day of the preceding Persian month Azar is the longest night of the year, when evil forces are assumed to be the strongest. Because the days become longer and the nights shorter, “khore rooz,” or the day of sun, marks the victory of the sun over the darkness.
Fire is burned all night to ensure the defeat of the forces of evil, and festivities include feasts and prayers performed to ensure total victory of the sun.
“Yalda traditionally takes place on the first day of winter, but since many people visited Iran during the winter break, we decided to combine the two celebrations,” said Mitra Aghazadeh, leader of the Iranian Cultural Society of Louisiana.
Sadeh, meaning “hundred,” takes place 40 days after Yalda. This ancient Iranian mid-winter feast celebrates fire and the banishment of darkness, frost and cold.
Chief preparation for Sadah includes boys and male adults searching for firewood, a rarity in the desert of Iran, and building huge bonfires to drive off demons of frost and cold.
The Persian New Year is March 21, and PAL is planning a weekend celebration March 27 in commemoration of the holiday at the Faculty Club.