The first days of July in Iran are the Tirgan Festival.
An ancient traditional early summer festival celebrating water, rain, and fertility. This holiday has its roots in Zoroastrian tradition and is linked to the legend of Tishtrya, the rain goddess who battles Apaosha, the demon of drought, bringing water and life to parched fields, and of Arash the Archer, the legendary hero who shot an arrow from Mount Damavand to define Iran's borders, ending a bloody war and bringing blessed rain to the country.
Specifically, the legend of Arash takes place during the reign of the mythical Persian king Manuchehr, when Iran had been engaged in a bloody and exhausting war for over sixty years against the rival kingdom of Turan, led by King Afrasiab. Turan's troops had managed to surround the Persian army, forcing it to surrender and inflicting severe moral and economic humiliation on the country. To end the hostilities without further bloodshed, the two rulers agreed to an unusual, divine pact: an Iranian archer was to release an arrow from the top of a mountain, and the exact spot where the arrow landed would mark the new and definitive border between the two empires. The next morning, Arash climbed to the summit of the sacred Mount Damavand and drew his bow with superhuman strength, finally releasing it before collapsing lifeless to the ground. Supported by the divine winds guided by Tishtrya, the dart completed a legendary journey that lasted hours (some versions say even days), soaring hundreds of miles across the plains until it landed on the far bank of the Oxus River (modern-day Amu Darya), embedding itself in the bark of a majestic walnut tree. This miraculous shot not only restored a vast swath of territory to Iran, but also ended the war, bringing lasting peace and ending the great drought that had plagued the country, finally bringing rain.
Today, the holiday is celebrated with great fervor in various regions of Iran, such as Mazandaran and Khorasan, primarily celebrating the element of water: people love to gather outdoors to splash and throw water at each other, a joyful ritual that serves both to cool off from the summer heat and to invoke rain. The atmosphere is further enhanced by traditional songs, dances, and the reading of verses by the famous poet Hafez, all accompanied by the preparation of summer specialties, such as spinach soup and sweet saffron rice pudding.