Hajji Firuz

Hajji Firuz

Hājji Firuz or Hajji Piruz, (Persian: حاجی فیروز) is the traditional herald of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. He oversees celebrations for the new year perhaps as a remnant of the ancient Zoroastrian fire-keeper. His face is covered in soot and he is clad in bright red clothes and a felt hat. While ushering in Nowruz, Hajji Firuz plays a tambourine and sings "Hāji Firuz-e, sal-i-ye ruz-e" (It is Hāji Firuz time, It happens one day in a year). People of all ages gather around him and his troupe of musicians and listen to them play the drum, saz or kamancheh, and dance through the streets with tambourines and trumpets spreading good cheer and the news of the coming New Year.