ChahrshanbehSouri means Wednesday Feast, from the word sour which means feast in Persian,[2] or
more plausibly, consider sūr to be a variant of sorkh (red) and take it to
refer either to the fire itself or to the ruddiness(sorkhī), meaning good health
or ripeness, supposedly obtained by jumping over it,[2] is
an ancient Iranian festival dating back to at least 1700 BCE of the early Zoroastrian era.[3] Also
called the Festival of Fire, it is a prelude toNowruz, which marks
the arrival of spring. The words Chahar Shanbeh meanWednesday and Suri means red. Bonfires
are lit to "keep the sun alive" until early morning.[4] The
celebration usually starts in the evening, with people making bonfires in the
streets and jumping over them singing zardi-ye man az toh, sorkhi-ye toh
az man. The literal translation is, my yellow is yours, your red is mine.
This is a purification rite.[5] Loosely
translated, this means you want the fire to take your paleness, sickness, and
problems and in turn give you redness, warmth, and energy. There are
Zoroastrian religious significance attached to Chaharshanbeh Soori and it
serves as a cultural festival for Iranian people: Persian Jews, Persian
Muslims, Assyrians who are native to Iran, Persian Armenians, Kurds, and
Zoroastrians