Navruz in Uzbekistan

Navruz means 'New Day' in Persian. For over three thousand years, the peoples of Central Asia have celebrated the spring equinox as the beginning of a new year — a time of renewal, forgiveness, and hope. On 21 March, when day and night are equal in length, something shifts. The wheat begins to sprout. The mountains release their snow. Neighbours who have not spoken all winter embrace at the threshold. Tables groan with foods seen only at this time of year. And in courtyards across Uzbekistan, women gather around enormous cauldrons to cook sumalak through the night — singing, telling stories, making wishes as they stir. This is Uzbekistan at its most alive. And we want you to be part of it. This is not a tour that shows you Navruz from the outside. You will cook sumalak with a real community in Khiva — not staged for tourists, but the actual families who have done this for generations. You will watch Kupkari, the thundering horse game, in the mountains above Samarkand. You will join a Hashar — a community work day — and understand what it means when an entire neighbourhood comes together to build something with their hands. You will sit with the musicians and dancers of the Bukhara Philharmonic as they prepare for the celebration. This tour is filled with things you will do for the first time in your life. Things you never knew you could do. Things that will help you understand us better.