From sunset Feb. 25 to sunset March 1, Baha’is will be exchanging gifts, getting together with friends and family, and engaging in acts of charity – activities that characterize the festival of Ayyam-i-Ha.

The Baha’i year consists of 19 months of 19 days each (361 days), with the addition of “Intercalary Days” (four in ordinary and five in leap years) between the eighteenth and nineteenth months to adjust the calendar to the solar year. The months are named after the attributes of God. The Baha’i New Year coincides with the March equinox (March 21). The Baha’i Era commenced with the year of the Bab’s declaration (1844 A.D.).

Before there was the Baha'i Faith, there was the Babi religion, founded by the Bab, whose given name was Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad. He was born in Shiraz, Persia (now Iran).

From April 21 to May 2, Baha'is observe the Festival of Ridvan. This most holy day commemorates the anniversary of Baha'u'llah's declaration in 1863 that He was the Promised One of all earlier religions.

On March 21 Baha'is celebrate the beginning of a new year. Called Naw-Ruz, which means "new day" in Persian, it is one of nine Baha'i holy days on which Baha'is suspend work and school.

Gift-giving, social gatherings and acts of charity characterize Ayyam-i-Ha, an end-of-the-year Baha'i festival that goes from sunset Feb. 25 to sunset March 1.

"It behoveth the people of Baha, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name."
--Baha'u'llah
So wrote Baha'u'llah, Founder of the Baha'i Faith, on how to observe the festival of Ayyam-i-Ha, which goes from sunset Feb. 25 to sunset March 1.

View a multimedia presentation in celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah - November 12

On July 9, Baha’is throughout the world commemorates the Martyrdom of the Bab, which occurred on that date in 1850. A young Persian merchant named Siyyid 'Ali-Muhammad, and known as the Bab ("the gate" in Arabic), was the forerunner of Baha’u’llah, the prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith.

This article originally appeared in The Record, based in Stockton, California. Reprinted with permission.

For Cathy Yavrom, bad breath is sometimes a byproduct of fasting during the 19-day month leading up to the New Year in the Bahai Faith. The Baha'i New Year's Day is March 21, but New Year's celebrations begin the evening before because the Baha'i day begins at sunset.