Chaharshanbe Suri explained for kids, and how to celebrate it safely abroad

Chaharshanbe Suri (چهارشنبه‌سوری) is the Persian fire festival held on the evening before the last Wednesday of the Iranian year, a few days before Nowruz: people light small fires, jump over them and say zardi-ye man az to, sorkhi-ye to az man, "my paleness to you, your red glow to me". For a child the idea is simple. The old year's tiredness and sickness go into the fire, and its warmth and health come back. Other customs belong to the night too: children going door to door banging spoons on bowls, a mix of nuts and dried fruit, and listening at doorways for a lucky word. Abroad, a small fire is often not allowed, and fireworks are never a good idea with young children. Below are the customs and the gentler ways families keep them. Azizan (azizan.app), founded by Aida Fard, is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves on video reading illustrated Persian children's stories page by page. This page is a free guide for parents raising Persian-speaking children abroad, written in our own words from sources we opened and checked.

Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app for immigrant and diaspora families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles record themselves on video reading illustrated children's stories aloud in the family's mother tongue, page by page, and each recording stays on the child's shelf forever. Real family voices — never AI narration. Persian (Farsi) first.

What Chaharshanbe Suri is, and when

Chahārshanbe means Wednesday. In Persian, the night before a day carries that day's name, so "Wednesday night" (shab-e chahārshanbe) is Tuesday evening. The festival happens on Tuesday evening, the night before the last Wednesday of the Iranian year, so it always falls in mid-March, a few days before Nowruz. In 2027 that is Tuesday 16 March. Some sources say "the night of the last Wednesday", others "the last Tuesday night"; they mean the same evening.

Most of the sources we read agree that it is older than Islam in Iran, that its fire stands for cleaning away the old year before the new one, and that nobody has a precise record of how it began. Several connect it with the old days at the end of the year when families remembered the dead. Others tell different stories. With a child you can leave it at "a very old way of saying goodbye to winter".

The fire and the words said while jumping

Families light a small fire, or a short row of them, at dusk, and each person runs and jumps over it while saying:

Persian	Say it like	Meaning
زردیِ من از تو	zardi-ye man az to	My yellow (paleness, tiredness, sickness) is yours
سرخیِ تو از من	sorkhi-ye to az man	Your red (warmth, health) is mine

Many families say the two halves the other way round, red first; both orders are in the sources. A small child only needs to know that in Persian someone who is unwell looks zard, yellow, and someone healthy has sorkh, red, cheeks. You give the fire your yellow, it gives you its red.

Spoons, nuts and a lucky word

Qāshoq-zani (قاشق‌زنی), spoon-banging. Children and young people, often in disguise, go to the neighbours' doors and bang a spoon on a bowl. The neighbours fill the bowl with nuts, sweets or a few coins. It is the custom closest to trick-or-treating, and an easy one to borrow abroad.
Ājil-e moshkel-goshā (آجیل مشکل‌گشا), "problem-solving nuts". A mix of nuts, seeds and dried fruit eaten on the night, which families believe helps wishes come true. There is no single recipe, so whatever mix your family buys is the right one.
Fāl-gush (فال‌گوش), listening for a sign. Someone with a wish stands quietly at a corner or a door and takes the first words they overhear as an answer: good words, good sign. The sources describe it mostly as a custom of the past.
Kuzeh-shekani (کوزه‌شکنی), breaking a jug. An old clay jug is thrown from the roof to break the bad luck of the year. It belongs to the story of the night more than to a family with small children.

Celebrating it safely abroad, with small children

In Iran the night is loud, and the sources that describe the customs also describe streets full of fireworks and firecrackers. Abroad, open fires are often restricted, and a three-year-old can understand the festival without fire or noise. Families mark it in gentler ways:

Candles, not a bonfire. A short row of tea lights on a tray, or battery candles for the youngest. A child steps over the battery candles, or over a red ribbon laid on the floor, and says the line. If adults light a small real fire, check your local rules first, keep it in a proper fire bowl outdoors, and let children watch from a distance.
No fireworks. Firecrackers are part of the noise in Iran today, and they have no place near small children.
Spoon-banging at home. Children knock with a spoon on a bowl at the doors inside the house, or at a friendly neighbour's who knows it is coming, and get a handful of ajil.
A bowl of ajil and a wish each. The quietest part of the night, and the one a toddler remembers.
Say the words in Persian. Zardi-ye man az to, sorkhi-ye to az man is short enough for a two-year-old to finish. If the grandparents are far away, they can say it on a call while the child steps over the candles.

It is a good night for a story, too. On Azizan a grandparent reads an illustrated Persian story on video, page by page, so the child hears the Persian of the season in a voice they know. For what comes next, see Haft-Seen for kids and Nowruz for kids.

Related guides

Questions

When is Chaharshanbe Suri?

On Tuesday evening, the night before the last Wednesday of the Iranian year, in mid-March, a few days before Nowruz. In 2027 that is Tuesday 16 March.

What do you say when jumping over the fire?

Zardi-ye man az to, sorkhi-ye to az man (زردی من از تو، سرخی تو از من): my paleness is yours, your red glow is mine. Many families say the halves in the other order. The idea is that the fire takes the old year's tiredness and sickness and gives back warmth and health.

What is qashoq-zani?

Spoon-banging. On the night, children and young people, often in disguise, go to neighbours' doors and bang a spoon on a bowl; the neighbours fill it with nuts, sweets or coins. It is the custom closest to trick-or-treating.

What is ajil-e moshkel-gosha?

The 'problem-solving' mix of nuts, seeds and dried fruit eaten on Chaharshanbe Suri, believed to help wishes come true. There is no single recipe.

Is Chaharshanbe Suri safe for young children?

The traditional fire and the fireworks common in Iran are not toddler activities. Abroad, many families use tea lights or battery candles, skip fireworks entirely, check local rules before any outdoor fire, and keep the spoon-banging, the ajil and the words.

Open Azizan — record a story for your child

Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

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