The Yazidi calendar, rooted in the ancient Seleucid system, structures a year of twelve months and several sacred days that mark seasonal renewal. Central to this calendar is the New Year, or Red Wednesday, celebrated on the first Wednesday of April, alongside local and movable festivals that bind Yazidi communities across the Middle East and diaspora.
Yazidi festivals are celebrated differently across regions. In Sinjar, communal rituals revolve around sacred sites like Lalish, while Sheikhan emphasizes local shrines and the Jama Festival. The diaspora adapts these rites to new contexts, preserving core elements through virtual gatherings and community centers.
Çarşema Êzî, also known as Çarşema Sor or Red Wednesday, marks the Yazidi New Year on the first Wednesday of April. The festival blends ancient cosmology, communal rites, and regional customs across the Yazidi homeland and diaspora.
Cejna Êzî, the Yazidi New Year, is fixed to the first Wednesday after 13 April in the Gregorian calendar. Its calculation rests on a lunisolar system that aligns with both Julian and Gregorian reckoning, producing the celebrated “Red Wednesday.”
Yazidi, Yarsani (Ahl‑e Haqq), and Alevi communities, while distinct in theology, celebrate a series of overlapping folk festivals such as Jam, Hawtemal/Heftemal, and Black Wednesday. These rites blend indigenous Kurdish customs with Islamic and pre‑Islamic motifs, reflecting centuries of regional interaction.
Çarşema Serê Salê, also called Çarşema Sor or Red Wednesday, marks the Yazidi New Year. Celebrated on the first Wednesday of April, the festival blends ancient cosmology, communal rites at Lalish, and vibrant folk customs.
Yazidis follow the Julian calendar for liturgical observances, a practice rooted in historical synchrony with regional Christian and Islamic calendars and reinforced by oral tradition. The choice reflects both astronomical continuity and communal identity, as documented by Yazidis.info and scholarly research.
Çarşema Sor, also known as Red Wednesday, marks the Yazidi New Year and the commencement of the sacred spring season. Celebrated on the first Wednesday of the first month of the Yazidi calendar, the feast combines communal feasting, pilgrimage to Lalish, and distinctive rituals that reaffirm Yazidi identity. Yazidis.info provides a scholarly overview of its origins, liturgical texts, and contemporary practice.
Cejna Cemayê, also known as the Seven‑Day Feast of the Assembly, is the most important Yazidi pilgrimage held annually at the holy shrine of Lalish. Over seven days, Yazidis gather for rituals, feasting, and communal renewal, reinforcing religious identity and social cohesion.
The Yazidi pilgrimage to Lalish, known as the Ziyara Lalîşê, draws hundreds of thousands of believers each year to the sacred valley in northern Iraq. Pilgrims perform ablutions, circumambulate holy sites, and participate in communal prayers, reinforcing communal identity and devotion to Melek Taus.