Azizan

Yalda and Christmas in one home: a Persian family's December

Yalda and Christmas sit a few days apart in December, and many Persian families abroad keep both: Yalda is the family's own long night on the winter solstice, around 20–21 December, with pomegranates, watermelon, nuts, poetry and the elders' stories; Christmas is the holiday the school, the shops and the neighbours are already celebrating. They are different holidays, not one in two languages, and a child can hold both without either one shrinking. Below: Yalda in one paragraph, small ways to give it its own place in a Christmas-shaped month, what your child can say when a classmate asks, and a short table of winter and holiday words in Persian. 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.

Yalda in one paragraph

Shab-e Yalda, also called Shab-e Chelleh, is the longest night of the year: the last night of autumn, on the winter solstice, usually 20 or 21 December. Families gather at the home of the oldest relatives and stay up late together. The table holds a lamp or candles and red fruit, pomegranate and watermelon above all, with nuts, dried fruit and sweets. People read poetry, Hafez most of all, and the elders tell stories; there are games and music, and small gifts for the children. In 2022 UNESCO inscribed "Yaldā/Chella" on its list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, in a joint file from Iran and Afghanistan. For how to explain the night to a small child and set a simple table, see Yalda Night for kids; for the poetry custom, see fal-e Hafez for kids.

Two holidays, a few days apart

Because the two fall so close together, children often ask whether Yalda is "Persian Christmas". The kind answer is no: they are two different things that happen to share a season. Yalda is a cultural night tied to the solstice, the turn from the longest night toward longer days, and Iranian families of every background keep it. Christmas is a Christian holiday, which many families in the West also mark as a cultural one, with a tree, presents and time off school.

It can help children to know that Iran has its own Christmas too. Iran's Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities celebrate it: Iranian Armenians, most of whom belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, keep Christmas on 6 January, and Assyrians keep it on 25 December. So "Iranians and Christmas" is not one story, and a child whose family has Armenian or Assyrian roots may grow up with Yalda and a January Christmas.

You may also hear that Christmas "came from" Yalda. We have not found that claim in sources we could trust, so we leave it out. What both holidays do share is easy to say to a child: winter, light in the dark, and family around a table.

Keeping both without one swallowing the other

Where you live, Christmas does not need help: it is in every shop window from November. Yalda needs a little protecting, or it quietly turns into "the night before the Christmas holidays". A few things families do:

1. Give Yalda its own night. It usually lands just before or just as school breaks up. Keep it as the family's evening, not folded into a Christmas party: the Yalda table, the elders' stories, a poem, and a child up a little later than usual.
2. Let the pomegranate be Yalda's colour. A bowl of pomegranates by the door, a cut one on the table, a pomegranate drawn on the card the child makes. Children remember a holiday by its colour and taste long before its dates.
3. Tell one Persian story that night. The heart of Yalda is the old telling stories to the young. One story in Persian, from a grandparent if you can, is the part that is hardest to buy and easiest to lose.
4. Invite friends to Yalda. Asking classmates or neighbours over for pomegranate seeds and watermelon turns Yalda from "our odd thing" into something your child is proud to host. Friends who invite you for Christmas will often be glad to be invited back.
5. Keep the Christmas you choose, in Persian too. If your family has a tree or presents, the words can still be Persian: درخت کاج, هدیه, بابانوئل. A holiday in the majority culture can still be talked about in the home language.

When your child explains Yalda at school

Sooner or later a teacher asks what your family does in December, or a friend asks why your child stayed up late. Give them a few short sentences they can say on their own:

• "Yalda is the longest night of the year. We stay up late with our family."
• "We eat pomegranates and watermelon. They are red, like the sun."
• "My grandma or grandpa tells stories, and we read poems."
• "After Yalda, the days start getting longer."

If the school likes it, a bowl of pomegranate seeds for the class or a short reading of the Yalda story turns your child into the person who knows something the others do not. That small pride is worth a lot for a child's attachment to a home language.

Winter and holiday words in Persian

Pronunciation is approximate and written for English speakers; capitals show the stressed part, and accents vary, so ask your relatives how they say them. For the names of the Persian months, including Azar and Dey around Yalda, see Persian months and seasons for kids.

If this December feels quieter

For families with relatives in Iran, some Decembers are lighter than others, and this one may be quieter for many. That is all right. Yalda has never needed a big party; at its centre is one family, one long evening and one story told by someone older to someone younger. A small table, a cut pomegranate and a phone call are already a Yalda.

If a grandparent cannot be at the table, their voice can still be. On Azizan a grandmother or grandfather abroad can record the Yalda story on video, page by page, a few days before the night, and the child watches it with the pomegranates in front of them; the recording stays on the child's shelf for next Yalda too. For the story itself, see Yalda Night, a Persian story for ages 2–4.

Related guides

• Yalda Night for kids: explain and celebrate Shab-e Yalda
• Yalda Night: a Persian story for ages 2–4
• Persian months and seasons for kids

Questions

Is Yalda the Persian Christmas?

No. They fall a few days apart in December and share winter themes such as light, food and family, but they are different holidays. Yalda is a cultural celebration of the longest night of the year, the winter solstice, kept by Iranian and Afghan families of every background. Christmas is a Christian holiday that many families in the West also mark culturally.

When is Yalda Night?

On the winter solstice, the last night of autumn in the Iranian calendar, usually 20 or 21 December. Families gather that evening and stay up late together.

Do Iranians celebrate Christmas?

Iran's Christian communities do. Iranian Armenians, most of whom belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, celebrate Christmas on 6 January, and Assyrian Christians in Iran celebrate on 25 December. Many Iranian families abroad also mark Christmas as a cultural holiday alongside Yalda.

How do you say Merry Christmas in Persian?

کریسمس مبارک, said roughly ke-ris-MAS mo-bah-RAK. The same word مبارک gives یلدا مبارک (Happy Yalda) and سال نو مبارک (Happy New Year).

Can we have a Christmas tree and a Yalda table in the same home?

Many families do. The two simply need their own moments: Yalda on its own night with pomegranates, the elders and a Persian story, and Christmas as the family chooses. You can also talk about the tree and the presents in Persian, so both holidays happen in the home language.

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Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

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