By
Hossein Hosseini
On September 9 and 10,
2006, Orange County witnessed the 11th
Annual Mehregan Persian Festival. Organized jointly by NIPOC, Network of
Iranian-American Professionals of Orange County (www.nipoc.org), Khayam Persian School
Foundation, (www.persianschool.org
), and other Iranian cultural and student
groups in Southern California and hundreds of volunteer who donated their time and pounds of their talent to
bring to life the traditions, tastes, sights and sounds of their beloved country
in a land far away from their roots, and to share with others a culture too rich
and unique not to be shared.
A record
crowd of over 20,000 people attended the two-day event. This year’s festival was dedicated
to the famous Persian King, Cyrus the Great. The festival grounds were decorated
with artifacts reminding the visitors of history and the contribution this king
has made to human kind.
The festival can best be
summarized as a time to reflect on the past and welcome the future with love,
compassion and understanding. The crowd was welcomed by posters and artifacts
along the corridor walls, most of which contained information about the ancient
Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great and Iranian
customs.
Cyrus is viewed as an embodiment
of the Mehregan philosophies. Cyrus the Great "was a historical figure at least
at the same level as Alexander and Caesar," said Cyrus the Great biographer
Cyrus Kar. "He drafted the first human rights legislation in recorded history,
over a thousand years before the Magna Carta. He abolished slavery. "He freed
the Jews from 60 years of Babylonian captivity and he built their temple in
Jerusalem," he
said. Kar, also a documentary filmmaker, was invited to the festival to
prescreen his documentary film about the life and times of Cyrus the Great.
Twelve provinces of
Iran (ostans) were presented by
having Costumes and posters showing historical places of each province. They
were: Kurdestan, Gilan, Esfahan, Kerman,
Yazd, Azarbaijan, Khoozestan, Golestan,
Hormozgan, Khorasan, Tehran, and Fars. There was also a tent dedicated to Assyria.
Whether it was with dancing,
music or poetry readings, three stages set at the front, middle and back of the
rectangular field were constantly active with entertainment.
Food was plenty and as varied as
people who attended, from kabobs, ashe reshteh and Persian ice cream to corn on
the cob and Abghoosht.
Across from the stage of
traditional dancers was a tent titled "Cyrus's Lounge" filled with young Persian
teenagers dancing to Iranian hip-hop. As one would say "I like young people, I
like that disco over there,” pointing to Cyrus's Lounge. "I love to dance and
live young." Young crowd were not
the only ones dancing, older crowd gathered on thick red traditional rugs to
watch the performance of such traditional singers as Aghili, Behzad, Shahla
Sarashar, and Niloofar. Older men and women clapped or stood up and twisted
their arms to the Persian version of Wayne Newton.
On the main stage such popular
entertainers as Black Cats, Mehrshad, Strunz & Farah, Noosh Afarain, and
Pyruz kept the crowd happy.
Cultural and folkloric dance
performed by three major dance
groups, Golsanam, Pro Dancers, and Beshkan Dance Academy were the favorite of
young and old.
All and all it was a
fantastic festival and everyone had a great Mehregan. For more information or to help with
next year’s Mehregan, please visit www.nipoc.org or email mehregan@nipoc.org
