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AKRE, Kurdistan Region — Rizgar Hassan has spent the last twenty days fashioning torches in preparation for Newroz.
The head of Kala Kavin (the old mountain) group in the town of Akre, he alongside two hundred others mark the Kurdish new year annually by taking to the mountains carrying hundreds of torches.
“We mix kerosene and diesel and put these torches into it for more than an hour. When it gets dark, we light our torches one by one and start walking down the mountain in a single row,” said Hassan.
While coronavirus protection measures have forbidden large gatherings, the government has allowed the fire carriers to usher in the new year.
“We have informed people on social media and local TV channels not to gather. And watch the traditional fire festival on TV and social media. We won’t allow gathering in any forms,” Kawa Zuheir, the director of Akre’s culture directorate.
Hundreds of tourists have nonetheless headed to the town, known as the Newroz capital, for the holiday.
“I have been in the Netherlands for 20 years. It’s the first time I have come back for Newroz,” said Haval Akreyi. “Newroz in Akre is very different from those of other cities of Kurdistan. It’s a nice feeling for me to see the Kurdish flag.”
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
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