The main festivals are:

• January 1 – New Year's Day
• March 8 – International Women's Day
• March 21 – Navruz
• May 9 – Memory and Honour Day (former Victory Day)
• September 1 – Independence Day
• October 1 – Teachers' Day
• December 8 – Constitution Day, as well as Islamic festivals linked to Ramadan.

Nowadays Navruz is widely celebrated as the beginning of the New Year in Iran and Afghanistan, and as a public holiday in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Albania, Iranian Kurdistan, India, Macedonia, Turkey, and southern Russia: Tatarstan and Bashkortostan.

The most important day of the celebration is the first day – March 21. On this day, it is customary to set a festive table and offer to all acquaintances, neighbours and passersby traditional "New Year" dishes, the main ones being khaliss and sumalak (prepared only once a year – in honour of Navruz). Khaliss is prepared from four varieties of cereals with the addition of chopped meat, with all ingredients cooked until they blend perfectly together. Sumalak is prepared with sprouted wheat grains, adding flour and sugar. Preparation of these elaborate dishes begins the evening before the festival. All the women of the extended family, community, or neighbours in apartment buildings gather around large cauldrons and, taking turns throughout the night, stir the dish to prevent it from burning, as it is cooked over a wood fire.

Often, a handful of small pebbles is placed at the bottom of the cauldron to ensure the mixture remains homogeneous. Whoever finds a "lucky" pebble in their portion is said to be assured of success throughout the entire New Year, according to legend. Since the process beside the fire is long and demands considerable physical effort, it is accompanied by music, singing and dancing, thus beginning a joyful welcome to the New Day. In the morning, each woman will take home her portion of the dish served from the communal cauldron.