‘Give me your beautiful red colour’: Thousands leap over flames in Richmond Hill at fire festival
The fire festival, or known as Chaharshanbe Suri, is the symbol of good health, cultivation, light, and purity to Iranians
Yorkregion.com
March 22, 2019
Sheila Wang
"Give me your beautiful red colour, and take back my sickly pallor!"
That is what the revelers say as they jump over one bonfire after another to celebrate Chaharshanbe Suri, a 4,000-year-old Iranian tradition.
Thousands of people flocked to Richmond Green Sports Centre and Park for a colourful and lively night to celebrate the fire festival, which is observed on the last Tuesday night before Nowruz, the Iranian new year.
“I feel great!” said Sherry Taba, one of the organizers of the annual event in Richmond Hill, and a board member of the Association of Iranian Canadian Nowruz Festivals.
This is the fifth year that the local group held the grand festival -- featuring fire-jumping, traditional dancing, live music, face-painting and shopping opportunities.
At 7 p.m., thousands of people from across York Region filled Richmond Green to shop for the new year, dance to the music, have their kids’ faces painted in red, or simply make new friends.
“We didn’t know each other. We met here today and now we’re friends,” said Asal Shahen, a resident in Richmond Hill who met Zoya Ali from Vaughan at the fire festival for the first time.
They were both dressed in traditional Iranian clothing.
The fire festival, or known as Chaharshanbe Suri, is the symbol of good health, cultivation, light, and purity to Iranians. It is believed that the ritual guarantees the dissipation of the misfortunes and evils, and the materialization of people’s hopes and desires for the next year.
While the festivalgoers were mostly from the Iranian community, the fire festival is truly for everybody.
“It’s not a religious festival. It’s a cultural event. All (are) welcomed here, regardless of your religious background,” said Adam Seif, who was one of the sponsors of the event.
While there were plenty of activities underway indoors, many of revelers -- young and old -- spent much their time outdoors dancing in the cold, chatting with family, and most importantly lining up for the fire-jumping ritual.
A total of six small bonfires in two rows were ready for the festivalgoers to leap over and embrace the new year.
“My friends, I wanted to wish you and your families health, happiness, and prosperity,” said Premier Doug Ford as he addressed the enthusiastic crowd, before joining them to jump over flames. “(The) Iranian community shares the same value with the PC Party and that is a strong belief in family, a strong belief in faith and a strong belief of hard-working people that become prosperous and grow our community.”
A number of other dignitaries also took part in the fire-jumping ritual, including Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MPP Michael Parsa, Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow, Regional Coun. Joe DiPaola, as well as local councillors Godwin Chan, Tom Muench, Castro Liu and former Richmond Hill MPP Reza Moridi.
Iranian is the second largest ethnic origin in Richmond Hill, where there were more than 21,000 residents identifying as Iranian in 2016 -- making up for 11 per cent of the town’s population, yorkregion.com reported.
