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On the occasion of Yalda night and winter solstice, we are going to get together play Persian and Kurdish music for Women, Life, Freedom. The concert is performed by Peyman Heydarian and friends. Performers (in alphabetical order):
Ayshegul [voice]
Peyman Heydarian [santur, daf]
Ziba Karbasi [poetry]
Kibar [dohol]
Seyyed Reza Mohammadi [poet]
Ali Torshizi [tonbak]
DATE: Friday 16 December 2022
Time: 7.30pm, doors open from 7.15pm
VENUE: SOAS – Khalili Lecture Theatre (KLT), Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
Tickets: £15 Regular / £10 Concs / £6 Students
Booking via email: [email protected]
The tickets must be booked in advance.
Website: www.thesantur.com
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/yalda-tickets-479407489707
Event on FB:
https://fb.me/e/38FpuTrMf
Shab-e Yalda
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Yalda has a history as ancient as the Mithraism. The Mithraists believed that Yalda is the night of the birth of Mithra, the god of light and truth. At the morning of the longest night of the year Mithra was born from a virgin mother. In the Zoroastrian tradition, Yalda remained an auspicious day, and included customs intended to protect people from misfortune. On that day, people were advised to stay awake most of the night. They have small parties and gatherings and eat the remaining of the fresh fruits left from summer. Following the fall of the Sassanid Empire and the subsequent rise of Islam in Iran, the religious significance of the event was lost, and, like other Zoroastrian festivals, Yalda became a social occasion when family and close friends would get together. Nonetheless, the obligatory serving of fresh fruit during mid-winter is reminiscent of the ancient customs of invoking the divinities to request protection of the winter crop. The 13th century Persian poet Sa'di wrote in his Bustan: "The true morning will not come, until the Yalda Night is gone". Following the Persian calendar reform of 1925, which pegged some seasonal events to specific days of the calendar, Yalda came to be celebrated on the night before and including the first day of the tenth Persian month (Dey), on 20-21 December. Subject to seasonal drift, this day may sometimes fall a day before or a day after the actual Winter Solstice. Yalda Night was officially added to Iran's List of National Treasures in a special ceremony in 2008.
With Best Wishes,
The SOAS Iranian band
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
SOAS University of London, Thornhaugh Street,London, United Kingdom