This is a great time for Afghan families to gather together and celebrate different rituals, including dancing, having picnics in different places, eating traditional Afghan dishes.

Afghans participate in the national dance of Afghanistan known as the “atan”, the dance itself is hundreds of years old as is the melody passed on from generation to generation.

Its origins lies in the Afghan Pashtoon tribes with a ‘dhol’ drum, ‘tablas’ and ‘zurla’ or ‘toola’ flutes.

The dance is performed in a circular motion luring non-participants to join the circle and to dance in the provincial style as each province in Afghanistan has their own unique style of Afghan attan dance.

The different kinds of dance are the; Logari, Kabuli, Wardaki, Herati and Nuristani to name a few.

The dance finishes when there is not one man or woman left on the dance floor and it is not unusual for some dancers to faint in the festive melee as the rhythm starts off slowly but ends with a fast frantic beat testing the dance stamina to be true ‘attan’ dancers.

Nowruz is a day to celebrate with the entire family especially for the children, these children ride Ferris wheels participate in kite running competitions and spend the day at the park.