The second annual "Celebrating Nowruz" event was held March 18th, 2008 at Harvard University. The event was hosted by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Outreach Program at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, the Middle East Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University, the Harvard Iranian Students Association and the Harvard Persian Society.

Nowruz (pronounced no-ruz) is a combination of two Persian words: "now", meaning new, and "ruz", which means day. Written together, Nowruz is the name for the Persian New Year and this is celebrated annually on the spring equinox, usually on the 20th or 21st of March.

Around one hundred guests gathered for traditional Persian sweets and a cultural program that featured speakers on Nowruz traditions in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and contemporary Iran. Other speakers shared the Nowruz traditions of the Baha'i community, and two students recited the tale of Sohrab and Gurdafarid from the Persian epic story The Shahnameh.

Click here to download a photobook with more information on the event's presentations and pictures from the celebration.