Yalda – یلدا

Shab-e Yaldā or Shab-e Chelleh (Yalda Night – شب یلدا) is an Iranian festival originally celebrated on the Northern Hemisphere’s longest night of the year, that is, on the eve of the Winter Solstice.
Iranians throughout the world celebrated the longest night of the Iranian calendar year, Yalda, in a tradition welcoming the birthday of the Goddess of Love, Mitra. Following the Iranian calendar reform of 1925, which pegged some seasonal events to specific days of the calendar, Yalda came to be celebrated on the night before and including the first day of the tenth month (Dey). Subject to seasonal drift, this day may sometimes fall a day before or a day after the actual Winter Solstice.
On Yalda night, members of the family stay together, narrate old stories told by ancestors, play traditional games and eat dried and fresh fruits symbolizing various things.

Pomegranates, placed on top of a fruit basket, are reminders of the cycle of life — the rebirth and revival of generations. The purple outer covering of a pomegranate symbolizes “birth” or “dawn” and their bright red seeds the “glow of life.” Watermelons, apples, grapes, sweet melons and persimmon are other special fruits served on Yalda night and all are symbols of freshness, warmth, love, kindness and happiness.

Shab e Cheleh (Yalda Festival)
Following the fall of the Sassanid Empire and the subsequent rise of Islam, the religious significance of the event was lost, and like other Zoroastrian festivals Yalda became a social occasion when family and close friends would get together. Nonetheless, the obligatory serving of fresh fruit during mid-winter is reminiscent of the ancient customs of invoking the divinities to request protection of the winter crop.
We wish everybody a happy Shab-e Yalda.

يلدا بلندترين شب سال شب تولد مهر …شبی که همه ايرانيان برای استقبال از روشنايی و پيروزی سمبليک اهورا (نور) بر اهريمن (تاريکی) جشن ميگيرند…يکی از قيميترين جشنها در دنيا که زمانی از هند تا اروپا را در بر می گرفته ولی هم اکنون ايرانيان از معدود ملتهايی هستند که اين شب را جشن ميگيرند…فردای يلدا را ايرانيان دی ناميدند که برای ايرانيان يک ماه سال را تشکيل ميدهد. واژه دی در زبانهای ديگر هم نفوذ پيدا کرده و روز رو به نام دی نام ميبرند. يلدای شادی داشته باشيد