The Student Newspaper of Highline College

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Annual Nowruz gathering at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia, 2025.

Nowruz in Seattle: Tradition, identity, and cultural continuity in migration

Staff Reporter Jun 11, 2026

Nowruz, the Persian New Year marking the spring equinox, has been celebrated for more than three millennia across regions of Central and Western Asia. Today it is observed by more than 300 million people across different regions, including diaspora throughout western countries.

This short documentary by a Highline College student explores the celebration of Nowruz in the Seattle area. Through the experiences of immigrant communities in King County, Washington, it reveals how the Persian New Year continues to thrive in migration—reimagined in new cultural settings while remaining deeply rooted in memory, identity, and belonging.