ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Preparations are underway since early Monday in Akre, known as the capital of Newroz, as the town prepares to receive tourists and to light it up with torches at dusk.
This year, around 2,500 torches have been readied to be carried up a hill where a 50-meter flag of Kurdistan will be displayed, Aiyed Akrayi , one of the volunteers preparing the torches told Rudaw on Sunday.
"In 1996, we had just lit 21 torches. Now, we have increased the number to thousands not just for Akre, but the entire cities of the Kurdistan Region. For Akre city alone, we have readied [420] torches," Akrayi told Rudaw.
In Akre, it has become a tradition for visitors to climb up the town's hill with torches after dusk, creating a festive spirit with fireworks displays in the diverse town where Muslims, Christians, and other ethnicities and religious groups have coexisted for centuries.
In addition to torches, a significant amount of fireworks and a lighting system have been prepared by a special Turkish expert team to illuminate the skies of Akre for 30 minutes, Masoud Haji, one of the Akre Newroz festival organizers, told Rudaw.
"Between the two mountains - Kale and the Old Kale [situated inside Akre downtown] - a 50-meter-long flag designed to resemble a waterfall will be lowered from atop the mountain with fireworks being played on both sides of the flag," Haji added.
Kurds from all over the Kurdistan Region traditionally gather in the town of Akre as the ages-long tradition of lighting fires to welcome the New Year on the first day of spring will be commenced on Monday.
Hundreds of thousands of people from the Kurdistan Region, as well as Kurdish regions in Turkey, Iran, and Syria, will celebrate on the eve of Newroz on Monday, also symbolizing a day of freedom from tyranny and resistance.
The Akre tourism directorate estimates that 100,000 tourists are expected to flock to Akre to watch the fascinating views in the city's special Newroz festival celebrations.
Kurds celebrate Newroz on March 21-23 by picnicking in the countryside and lighting bonfires with their families and loved ones. The occasion is known as the Kurdish New Year.
Celebrations and festivities are held across the Kurdistan Region with hundreds of thousands of Kurds dancing in their colorful and traditional Kurdish clothes.
