Haji Firuz, Heralder of Nowruz: Aesthetic Sense of Custom in Iran

Another important feature of the New Year celebration is a character known as Haji Firuz (also Haji Firooz). Haji Firuz is a man dressed in red clothes with his face colored in black. A couple of weeks prior to New Year, Hâji Firuz comes along with tambourines, kettle drums, or trumpets, dancing and singing in the streets and cheering people, especially kids, in preparation for New Year. His songs are comical, and his performance very theatrical, causing laughter and cheer. HAJI FIRUZ, the most famous among the traditional folk entertainers, who appears in the Persian streets in the days preceding Nowruz (Figure 1). The HAJI FIRUZ entertains passers-by by singing traditional songs and dancing and playing his tambourine for a few coins. He rarely knocks on a door, but begins his performance as soon as the door is opened. Haji Firuz blackens his face, wears very colorful clothes, usually—but not always—red, and always a hat that is sometimes long and cone-shaped. His songs, quite traditional in wording and melody, are very short repetitive ditties (Source: Iranica, Iran Customs and Values).