Media Release -Assyrians Celebrate Their New Year Festival at Fairfield Showground

Sydney – 18 March 2022 The Assyrian National Council of Australia and the Assyrian Australian National Federation (will host this years’ Assyrian New Year Festival on Sunday, 27th March 2022, at Fairfield Showground. The festival will start at 10:00 am and conclude at 10:00 pm.

The program will start at 1:00pm with the official opening of the Art exhibition by two renowned Assyrian Artists, Edward Haydo will display portraits of all the past and present Australian Prime Ministers, which will provide a great opportunity for attendees particularly the new arrivals   to learn about past and present leadership of Australia. Calligrapher Shaia Kaiais an elegant handwriting Artist and designer, will present artistic writing for every official guest at the exhibition.

The official opening will commence at 1:30 pm. Like the previous years, the festival is expected to draw a crowd of over 15,000 attendees with noted dignitaries from Local, State, Federal Governments and representatives from different communities and government organisations as well as special guests from overseas and interstate. 

A whole array of entertainment will be on display with something for everyone and every age. Live musical performances by an assortment of Assyrian singers will entertain the audience as they dance the night away. Theatrical Drama showing the King and Queen of Assyria visiting from the remote past. As usual there will be great food, variety stalls and different games and rides of fun for children. The festival will culminate with a spectacular firework display at 9:15pm.

The official opening will show a spectacular performance by the renowned Grammy considered Producer/Artist, Niramsin Yakou, accompanied by a group of Artists including students from St Narsai Assyrian Christian College.

Each nation has its own New Year’s traditions. But everyone has one thing in common – to wish each other happiness, prosperity, and peace on the verge of the past and the future. People celebrated this colourful holiday in the past, but few people know the history behind its origin.

The first documentary confirmation of this celebration dates back to the third millennium BC. The tradition of celebrating the Assyrian New Year Festival (Reesha D’Sheeta) appeared for the first time in Ancient Assyria, it was the most prodigious celebration in ancient Assyria. 

The Assyrians celebrate the Assyrian New Year, on the first day of Spring, which is the Vernal

Equinox. On this day, the sun and the moon are in perfect balance with each other, and the days

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and nights are equal in length. The Spring Equinox is marked by the first new moon of Spring, and this is why, Assyrians all over the world will usher in the new year, which is the year 6772, on the Assyrian calendar. 

Each city in Assyria celebrated the New Year Festival on the same day; In Ur, in Nineveh, in Assur, and in Babylon, all the citizens ushered in the New Year by twelve days of celebration. The twelve days of the Assyrian New Year signified the 12 months of the year. Each day of the 12 days was significant in its ritualistic re-enactment. On the first day of Spring (Kha B’Nissan), people started the day with prayer, thanking God for granting the renewal of life. The rest of the day was devoted to celebrating Kha B’Nissan with dancing, singing, and feasting. Through these rituals the Babylonians & Assyrians believed the world was symbolically cleansed and recreated by the gods in preparation for the New Year and the return of spring.

Assyrians are the descendants of a nation that has suffered the ravages of repeated wars of annihilation to uproot their existence from the land of their forefathers. Despite this, their faith in themselves, their love and their great pride of their ancient heritage, religion and culture have given them the strength to face all challenges and atrocities suffered at the hands of different invaders and aggressors who have occupied Assyria by force and tried to destroy their very existence in their own homeland. Few years ago it was the exodus of Assyrians from their homeland in Northern Iraq and Syria , currently the same destiny is facing over 7000 families in Ukraine .

The New Year Festival will be live streamed on social media, so that Assyrians and nonAssyrians alike can watch it live or on delay, whether they are in Fairfield or across the globe.

We invite all communities to come together and celebrate this New Year Day with Australian Assyrians.

Assyrian National Council info@ancau.org

Media Contact: Mr. Hermiz Shahen, President,  Mobile: 0407 235349  

Attached: Photos from last year’s celebration