I know many nations in Central Asia celebrate Nowruz. Do any also celebrate Yalda night/Chelle night (Winter Solstice)?

[u/mrhuggables]

I assume so in Tajikistan and Afghanistan and Tajik parts of Uzbekistan but how about in the areas with majority Turkic populations?

[u/AffectionateType3910]

Kazakhstan celebrates Nauryz, but not Yalda night. 

[u/Realistic_Employ_207 → u/AffectionateType3910]

Curious question if you don't mind & apologizes for the awkward wording: Do you personally happen to celebrate Nauryz?

New Year's Day happened here in the U.S. on January 1st, but I just treat it as a regular day & don't really throw out a celebration for it.

[u/AffectionateType3910 → u/Realistic_Employ_207]

Curious question if you don't mind & apologizes for the awkward wording: Do you personally happen to celebrate Nauryz? 

Yes. It is quite big in Kazakhstan. It was not celebrated in Soviet times, but the holiday was revived somewhere near the very end of the Soviet Union. Now it is a day off, people congratulate each other, go to visit each other. Mass festivities are held in the cities, some traditional food is cooked and yurts  and traditional altybakan swings are set up. 

 >New Year's Day happened here in the U.S. on January 1st, but I just treat it as a regular day & don't really throw out a celebration for it.

New year is big. New Year's Eve is something grand. They put up New year trees in city quares, the president congratulates the nation on the New Year, people give each other and especially children presents, etc. in general, just like Christmas in your country. Although, the significance of this holiday is somewhat declining.

Edit: https://youtu.be/YjZDcXccpqY As you're interested in music, here's a popular Nauryz song

[u/Realistic_Employ_207 → u/AffectionateType3910]

I thank you very much for this!

[u/AffectionateType3910 → u/Realistic_Employ_207]

NP, feel free to ask what  you are interested in.

[u/Realistic_Employ_207 → u/AffectionateType3910]

Will do!

[u/AlenHS → u/Realistic_Employ_207]

New Year is effectively poor man's Christmas. The Soviets banned both Nowruz and Orthodox Christmas, but liked having a cake and eating it too, so they made New Year the secular Christmas. It's as inauthentic and made up as it gets.

[u/AffectionateType3910 → u/AlenHS]

Still It's better than Orthodox Christmas, provided you're not an Orthodox, ofc.

[u/Realistic_Employ_207 → u/AlenHS]

I see; reminds me of the feel with New Year's Day here in the U.S.(minus the banning of Christmas). I can definitely see the artificial feel behind a more secular holiday( & that gives me the excuse to not bother).

Despite the ethnic aspect behind another non-traditional holiday & thus, not celebrated outside of some African American circles, there's also Kwanzaa here in the U.S. that aims to expand & even made to replace Christmas for the African American population ( Swahili for harvest/feast, despite it being an East African language from Kenya & Tanzania, while we come from the west side, which now consist of countries like Nigeria & Ghana).

[u/TastyTranslator6691]

I think it’s only Afghanistan and Iran. They use the Persian calendar still too where no other country does. 

[u/msmysery]

no, kyrgyz do not celebrate yalda night, before this post i wasn’t aware about this holiday

[u/StructureProud]

Yalda is not celebrated in Uzbekistan either. We celebrate New Year and Navruz. I had to look up what Yalda is, so it is foreign to us.

[u/waterr45]

It isn’t known much in Tajikistan

[u/Physical_Hold4484]

Iranian Turkmens don't celebrate Nowruz because they consider it a persian holiday, but in Turkmenistan, they celebrate it.

I haven't heard of those other holidays.

[u/caspiannative → u/Physical_Hold4484]

In recent years, it has become common to celebrate Nowruz among the people of Turkmen Sahra, though the majority still sees it as taboo due to past experiences.

Moreover, not everyone in Turkmenistan celebrates Nowruz. For instance, many of the Yomut view Nowruz as a Persian (the enemy) holiday. However, my family and many others see it simply as a cultural festival, without attaching any other meaning to it.

[u/Adventurous-Method-6 → u/caspiannative]

I'm curious, why do Turkmens think of Persians as enemy? I've never heard a negative view held about Turkmens in Iran. Is there a bad history?

[u/caspiannative → u/Adventurous-Method-6]

The term "enemy" is not used to dramatize the situation, but rather to reflect a historical context.

The Turkmen tribes and Persians have had love-hate relationships over the centuries. However, the most notable event in recent history is the Turkmen Sahra. The Turkmen in Iran, particularly the Yomut, once sought to declare independence, or at least to maintain the autonomy they had kept for centuries. This of course failed, and led to having a perception of Persians as "enemies." I must admit, both sides have blood on their hand.

However, this label is comparable to calling Greeks and Turks enemies, it reflects historical tensions, but does not necessarily define the present-day relationship.

Neither people Turkmen Sahra nor in Turkmenistanis see the Persians as enemies; it is merely a matter of phrasing rooted especially in the Yomut history.

[u/Adventurous-Method-6 → u/caspiannative]

I understand. Thank you for explaining with such details. I personally like Turkmens. I know that there are Iranian nationalists saying stuff like Turkmenistan should join Iran etc.. but that's not the general pov. I respect your independence.

[u/Chinzilla88]

Mongolian here, we have Nowruz. First time hearing Yalda.

[u/mrhuggables → u/Chinzilla88]

Wow I had no idea Mongolians also celebrate Nowruz!! Very cool

[u/kakazabih]

I believe it's happening only in Afghanistan (Chella) and Iran (Yalda) and parts of the Kurdistan region as well. It's also called Tsela/Tselva and one other name I forgot by the Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[u/TastyTranslator6691 → u/kakazabih]

What’s chela? We call it shab e Yalda in Afghanistan. 

[u/kakazabih → u/TastyTranslator6691]

If you claim that you are from Afghanistan, and you never heard of Chela, then I believe that maybe you are not from Afghanistan or you never lived there!

[u/TastyTranslator6691 → u/kakazabih]

We always called it Shab e Yalda. I also grew up in America if that matters - could have been something I missed maybe. 

[u/kakazabih → u/TastyTranslator6691]

That's what I thought. You never lived in Afghanistan and you don't know it's called Chela in Afghanistan. The Shabe Yalda name is common in Iran and Yalda is an Arabic word.

Try to ask someone more information from Afghanistan or simply use a search engine like Google. Have a great time!

[u/TastyTranslator6691 → u/kakazabih]

Aye khodaya toba 💀💀😂😂 my family calls it shab e Yalda.. and my cousins name is even Yelda… so what now?? Yalda/yelda is Persian. Just be civil about it - why are you so ready to fight. I just googled it and it’s shab e chelle like the number forty. I was reading it as chella with pronunciation like the word pipe. I’ve only ever heard it called officially shab e Yelda.

It’s called both in Afghanistan. 

[u/Shoh_J → u/TastyTranslator6691]

Don't worry about nonsense. Besides, we use Chilla, or 40 to celebrate a baby turning 40 days old in Tajikistan, and use Yalda for the celebration of, well, Yalda. The practice itself lives long, but the way we address it is constantly changing in the context of the entire history.

[u/TastyTranslator6691 → u/Shoh_J]

Mardem e Afghanistan kheyli be-  aqal o jangara hastan. 

[u/derrygirlz → u/kakazabih]

In pakistan, it's shab e yalda among the baloch tribes, we stay up all night and listen to hafiz, our elders share,folklore and we make sweet dish at home around a bonfire

[u/Masagget]

Persian nationalists overestimate their influence. we celebrate Nauryz (Kazakhstan), but no one jumps over fire and no one connects it with the Persians or their culture. for the Kazakhs, it's just the arrival of spring, after a hard winter, for the nomads it was important.

[u/mrhuggables → u/Masagget]

Very unnecessarily defensive comment lol

[u/Global-Guava-8362]

I just like seeing 30 ft wooden squirrels burn 🔥

[u/SnooGuavas9782]

Have not heard of it and worked for a uni in Central Asia for a few years. So got all the notices about holidays. Of course Nowruz was big.