Holidays and Festivals of Uzbekistan contents

Navruz is called "Ruz-e-Dekhkan," the Day of the Peasant, or "Ruz-e-

Nekholshoni" the Day of Planting Trees. Before going to their fields, farmers 

arrange parades with songs and dancing, and traditional instruments. The 

horns and necks of oxen that will be used for the first plowing of spring fields 

are sometimes rubbed with aromatic oil.  

In southern Russia, Bashkirs probably adopted the celebration of Navruz 

from Persian tribes that once lived in the Ural Valley. The weather in these 

territories is not yet springlike in late March, so the holiday is somewhat 

different than in other regions. First, young men in a community collect 

products for the making of a common meal and embroidered "prizes" for the 

winners of running, dancing and singing competitions that will be held. On