ASSYRIAN AUSTRALIAN NATION FEDERATION

CELEBRATING

THE ASSYRIAN NEW YEAR

ASSYRIAN 2007/

6757 NEW YEAR

CELEBRATION IN

SYDNEY-AUSTRALIA

The Assyrian Australian National Federation (“AANF”) in collaboration with the Assyrian Universal Alliance – Australian Chapter will be hosting this year’s Assyrian New Year Festival on Sunday, 1st April 2007 at the Fairfield Showground – Sydney, The Festival starts at 10:00 am to 10:00 pm.

Over 10,000 people are expected to attend this special celebration, including officials from Local, State and Federal Government.  Also included will be many representatives of the vast majority of the Assyrian Churches, organisations and several other prominent Assyrians.

The official opening will commence at 1:00 pm. A variety of speeches, poetry, traditional dancing and political addresses and songs will be delivered, including speeches by the organisers, welcoming the guests and the crowd and give a brief account about the importance of this historic day for the Assyrians.

About 10 Assyrian singers will be entertaining the audience all day supported with non-stop traditional dancing from the audience. At 8:00 pm, there will be a spectacular Firework show.

The Assyrian New Year is the most important national festival handed down thru history from our remote past. The Assyrians of today all over the world celebrate this day as their national festival.

The beginning of spring is when nature wakes up from its winter sleep, and the trees, plants, fields and flowers begin to bloom again. This means that our Assyrian ancestors gave new life a great credit to their philosophy of creation. Revival and rising from death played a big role in mythology.

Assyrian New Year was the biggest festival in the ancient Assyrian. It started on March 21^st, which was the first day on month of (Nissan) and beginning of the New Year on the Assyrian calendar.

This festival was celebrated for 12 days. This is confirmed by the tablets discovered and deciphered by the archaeologists explaining the festivities celebrated in those days.

In Assyria, this festival was considered as one of the most important events of the year. People from all over the Empire came to either the political capital, Nineveh or the religious capital, Babylon and participated in the celebration.

Nowadays the Assyrian New Year falls close to the Easter holiday. We therefore, wish all our people a happy Easter and may God bless our Assyrian Nation

all Assyrians are invited  to come and celebrate with us this very special day.

Hermiz Shahen

Secretary

Assyrian Universal Alliance-Australia Chapter