Iraq – Covid eliminates most of Yazidi New Year celebrations

Red Wednesday, or “Çarşema Sor” in the Kurdish language, is the Yazidis’ New Year festival that falls on the first Wednesday of April every year according to the Eastern calendar, which is 13 days later than April of the Western calendar. The Yazidis celebrate this day in their places in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and separate areas of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Russia, and many European countries, like Germany, however, this year they couldn’t hold their celebrations due to the pandemic. Yazidis do not get married in April, because they believe that it brings misfortune and they consider the month of April the bride of the year, and there should not be any other bride.