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The golden glow of late afternoon light washes over Fariba Nafissi’s Simi Valley bakery, ZoZoBaking Studio, flickering its way across her Sofreh Haft Seen, the traditional Nowruz (Iranian new year) tablescape, or cloth, decorated with seven symbolic items starting with the Persian
letter S (pronounced as “seen”). The light briefly spotlights each item and reflects off the sugar-dusted toot mulberry-shaped Iranian marzipan providing a display of kaleidoscopic patterns and lights.
It’s another reminder that Nowruz is just around the corner.
Nowruz (which means “new day”) is a secular and ancient celebration of the vernal equinox marking the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of the new year. This year Nowruz falls on March 20, at 2:37 a.m. Pacific time the moment when the length of day and night are almost equal.