Tirgan Festival in Tajikistan Date in the current year: July 1, 2025

Tirgan is an ancient Iranian festival dedicated to the benevolent Zoroastrian deity Tishtrya (Tishtar), called Tir in Modern Persian. In the Tishtar Yasht, which was later included by Ferdowsi in his famous epic poem Shahnameh, Tishtrya engages in a cosmic battle with the demon Apaosha, who brings drought.

Taking the form of a radiant white horse, Tishtrya confronts Apaosha, who appears as a fearsome black horse. Initially, the demon gains the advantage as Tishtrya is weakened by the lack of prayers and offerings from humans. In response, Tishtrya appeals to Ahura Mazda, the creator deity, who intervenes by making a sacrifice to him. Strengthened by this divine act, Tishtrya defeats Apaosha and allows life-giving rains to fall freely on the parched land. Because of this legend, Tirgan is regarded as the festival of water and rain.

Tirgan is celebrated on the thirteenth day of the month of Tir in the Solar Hijri calendar because the thirteenth day of the month and the fourth month of the year are both dedicated to Tishtrya in the Zoroastrian religious calendar. Its date corresponds to July 3, 4 or 5 in the Gregorian calendar. References to Tirgan can be found in the works of Persian and Arabic historians such as al-Masʿudi, al-Biruni, and Gardizi, as well as in the accounts of European travelers during the Safavid era (1501–1736).

Traditions associated with Tirgan include splashing water on each other, reciting poetry, dancing, and tying rainbow-colored bands around wrists. The bands are worn for ten days and then thrown into a spring or released with the wind. Traditional foods associated with Tirgan include spinach soup and sholezard, a sweet rice pudding flavored with rose water, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, and nuts.

Tirgan is currently celebrated in the Mazandaran Province of Iran, as well as in the cities of Ahvaz, Ardakan, Bam, Farahan, Isfahan, Karaj, Kerman, Meybod, Shiraz, Tehran, and Yazd. Zoroastrians outside of Iran also celebrate it, and it is an official holiday in Tajikistan, where it was revived and added to the list of official holidays in 2023.

Tajikistan’s modern celebration of Tirgan, a harvest festival marked by agricultural fairs and various cultural events, takes place on July 1. Traditionally, the celebration includes an apricot festival and a dried fruit fair in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe. The Ministry of Agriculture is the main organizer of these events.

As mentioned above, Tajikistan celebrates all four Iranian seasonal festivals. In addition to Tirgan on July 1, the country’s holiday calendar includes the midwinter festival Sadeh on January 30, Nowruz (Persian New Year) on the day of the vernal equinox, and the mid-autumn festival Mehregan on the third Sunday in October. While all of these festivals are official holidays in Tajikistan, only Nowruz is a public holiday.