Winnipeg Kurds gearing up for Nowruz, Kurdish New Year celebration

Members of Winnipeg’s Kurdish community are gathering Saturday evening to celebrate Nowruz.

Nowruz is the Kurdish new year celebration and marks the arrival of the spring season. Kurds have been celebrating the occasion in Winnipeg since the 1990s, joined by others around the world.

“All Kurds around the world, especially in Kurdistan, celebrate Nowruz,” said Omran Zahrab, one of the organizers.

Zahrab said it will be a joyous event celebrating culture through song, dance, and food.

“We celebrate freedom, we celebrate peace, we celebrate love with all communities here in Winnipeg,” he said. “We also celebrate and share all these values with communities in Winnipeg.”

He said there are many traditional foods involved with the celebrations, including “rice with chicken with kabob.”