MEHREGAN 2008: Kurdistan Booth
IRVINE, CA – October 13, 2008 –
Every year the Network of Iranian-American Professionals of Orange County (NIPOC) on behalf of the Southern California based Iranian Community hold a festival in Irvine. The annual Iranian Harvest Festival of Autumn (Mehregan 2008) was held on October 11-12, 2008 at the Orange County Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, CA and this year’s event was dedicated to World Peace.
Though unfortunately NIPOC still continues to call this festival A Persian festival, without the participation of the non Persian attendees and ethnic booths such as the Kurdish, Azari, Baluch,Asirian, Lour and Arab from south of Iran, the festival has no meaning other than a commercial and entertainment event. Due to the fact that NIPOC continuous to call this festival a Persian festival, they have alienated many active members of the ethnic groups of Iran. We hope that NIPOC will choose to properly respect the importance of the fact that Iran is a multi ethnic nation.
This year the Kurdish booth was full of good friends of the Kurds. Hundred of visitors came to see the booth’s display of books about Kurdistan, hand crafts, rugs, Kurdish dolls dressed in traditional clothing, full size beautiful Kurdish clothing for both men and women, and many other crafts that were brought originally from Kurdistan. The volunteers in this booth were from the different cities of the Kurdish region of Iran, and not just from the Kurdistan province. Both days a group dance was performed with joy full traditional music, which is a signature of the Kurds.
Mehregan is a celebration of nature honoring the ancient Goddess Mehr, the spirit of LOVE, KNOWLEDGE, and COMMITMENT.
