TEHRAN– A flower festival dedicated to daffodils is scheduled to be held in Khafr county, southern Fars province, on December 29 and 30, a local tourism official has said.

As part of the festival, the cultural and historical identities of the county will be introduced, Ali Taheri explained on Sunday.

A handicrafts market will also be held on the sidelines of the festival, the official added.

In Persian culture and literature, the daffodil symbolizes the eye, usually the eye of the beloved. In poetry, the beloved is likened to the daffodil because of its leafless and green stem, which is hollowed out, straw-like, and curved, which is associated with humility and dignity.

Flowers have also thrived in the Persian language. Many girls are named after flowers: Ra’na (Blanket Flowers), Shaghayegh (Anemone), Banafsheh (Violet), Yaasaman (Jasmine), Niloofar (Lotus flower), Nastaran (Eglantine), Laleh (Tulip), Narges (Daffodil), etc.

The ancient region of Fars also spelled Pars, or Persis, was the heart of the Achaemenian Empire (550–330 BC), which was founded by Cyrus the Great and had its capital at Pasargadae. Darius I the Great moved the capital to nearby Persepolis in the late 6th or early 5th century BC.

The capital city of Shiraz is home to some of the country’s most magnificent buildings and sights. Increasingly, it draws more and more foreign and domestic sightseers flocking into this provincial capital, which was the literary capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1751 to 1794.

ABU/AM