ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - People from all over the Kurdistan Region are expected to gather in Akre on Thursday to celebrate the Kurdish New Year of Newroz by climbing up a mountain with torches and lighting a large Newroz fire.
Newroz celebrations in Akre are going to be held in the presence of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, other Kurdish officials, foreign countries ambassadors in Iraq and diplomats in the Kurdistan Region.
Around 70,000 tourists are expected to pour into the mountainous town to celebrate Newroz, the mayor of Akre told The New Region on Thursday.
Newroz celebrations in Akre are like no other in the Kurdistan Region and beyond, as they involve torchlight processions up the mountains.
It has become a tradition in recent years that the largest Newroz celebrations are held in Akre, where huge fireworks are displayed, with visitors donning traditional Kurdish clothing.
The Newroz festival in Akre is set to begin as dusk falls, with 3,000 torches prepared to light up Mout Kale.
“The Newroz carnival of this year will be different from those held in the previous years, since the fire lighting ceremony will be held more attractively,” Dilawar Bozo, Akre’s mayor, told The New Region.
The mayor added three large screens will be placed in different parts of the town “so our people can watch the Newroz celebrations across every corner."
In a Newroz message on the eve of the Kurdish New Year on Monday, President Masoud Barzani wished a Happy Newroz to “the honorable families of martyrs, brave Peshmerga, and the entire components of Kurdistan, and all the other nations that Newroz is part of their tradition, culture, and history.”
"I hope this year's Newroz will mark a beginning of peace and happiness for the people of Kurdistan and Iraq," Barzani said. "I hope that the peoples of the region can live in an atmosphere of peace and brotherhood under the shadow of peace and stability.”
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