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Residents across Orange County are gearing up to celebrate a variety of religious and cultural holidays, hoping to usher in a fresh start with the new season as the flowers of spring get ready to bloom.
This March, Muslims around the globe will fast for Ramadan, give charity and many will bow their heads down in nightly prayers.
Hindus will throw and smear vibrant color powder on each other for Holi.
Iranian Americans and other Central Asian communities will celebrate Persian New Year with a Haft-Seen display, spring cleaning and by jumping over fire.
In April, Jewish families will gather together for a Passover Seder to tell stories around the dinner table, pray and eat.
Christians will celebrate Easter with egg hunts, chocolate and church services after fasting for Lent.
And in May, Buddhists will commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.
[Read: Orange County Celebrates a Fresh Start This Spring]
Ramadan & Eid: Spiritual Renewal & Celebration
On Saturday, Muslims across the world – who are able to – will fast from food, drink and water from sunrise to sunset for about 30 days for the holy month of Ramadan.
Muslims believe Ramadan is the month the first verses of the Quran – Islam’s religious text – was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a thousand of years ago.
Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Greater Los Angeles chapter, said it’s a time for giving charity and helping others, self-reflection and improvement, renewing one’s spirituality and strengthening one’s faith through prayer and reading the Quran as well as a time for family and community.
“As we get to taste a bit of hunger and thirst, it softens our heart to remember those who, not by choice, struggle from hunger and thirst and that usually leads us to look at ways to alleviate such pain and suffering,” he said.
“It’s a month of renewal. It’s a month of seeking forgiveness, seeking closeness to God and there is no better way to get closer to God than to serve those who are in need.”
Though Ramadan is taking place in spring this year, it starts on a different day every year because the Islamic calendar is lunar based.
Amir Mertaban, the Executive Director of the Islamic Society of Orange County mosque in Garden Grove, said Ramadan has three core themes: sacrifice, resilience and patience.
He adds that the physical sacrifice made during the month is tied to a spiritual reset.
“The month is really about sacrificing things like food and drink so that when we’re interacting with our day to day community, we have a bit more perspective, and we’re appreciative and thankful and grateful,” Mertaban said.
“There’s an immediate kind of connection between the spiritual and the tangible.”
For Mertaban, the best part of Ramadan is families and the community coming together.
“There’s a sense of camaraderie, a sense of accomplishment, a sense of we’re in this together and I can’t stress enough how important that lesson is for us as Americans, especially when we’re so politically divided, and we’re divided on so many issues,” he said.
Mertaban said this Ramadan they expect around 40,000 people at the Islamic Society of OC – one of the largest and oldest mosques on the west coast.
The mosque is also hosting a Ramadan night market on March 7 at 10 p.m. with food and merchandise vendors.
Mosques across the county including the Garden Grove one will also host Iftaars, dinners for Muslims to break their fast, and Taraweeh, nightly prayers during Ramadan.
For ISOC’s Ramadan Calendar, click here.
After Ramadan, Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr, which translates to the “festival of the breaking of the fast,” and commemorates the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Eid spans over three days.
Usually it is celebrated with acts of charity, giving gifts to kids, getting dressed up to pray at the mosque in the morning, gatherings and breakfast. Some in the community equate Eid to Christmas.
“Our tradition has this beauty of Eid, and it’s after a month of sacrifice,” Mertaban said “Eid is basically a two to three day celebration and within that time frame, people are excited and joyous.”
Holi – a Festival of Color
On March 14, Hindus will welcome the spring with Holi – festival of color typically observed and celebrated in India and Nepal where people smear and drench each other with colored powder as well as throw water and water balloons at each other.
Holi commemorates the end of winter and the victory of good versus evil in the Hindu legend of an evil king, his sister Holika and his pious son Prahlada.
Seema Choudhary, founder of the OC Indian Women group, said in an interview Holi is a time for the community to get together, a time for renewal, to have fun and to let go of grudges.
“When we wash those colors, it’s basically washing away all the negativity and embracing the new beginnings,” she said.
The different colors in Holi represent different themes – with red symbolizing love, Blue symbolizing the Hindu god Krishna and green symbolizing new beginnings.
For Choudhary, celebrating Holi is a way to preserve Indian traditions and bring people together.
“When we do celebrate, it strengthens the bonds between family and friends, deepening the relationship and fostering unity,” she said. “It creates meaningful connections through the shared traditions.”
Choudhary’s group will host a free Holi event at Sweet Shade Neighborhood Park in Irvine on March 14 from 6pm to 8pm.
The Federation of Indian American Associations will be hosting a free holi event at Maxwell Park in Anaheim on March 15 from 11am – 4 pm.
Sher Entertainment will be hosting Holi Fest – with live music and food – at the Great Park in Irvine on April 6 from 11am to 4pm.
Nowruz – a New Year, An Ancient Tradition
On March 20, Persian Americans and other central residents will celebrate Nowruz – Persian New Year by doing spring cleaning and coming together with their families.
“You’re getting rid of the past, the winter, the darkness and beginning the new year with a clean house,” Faye Hezar, a community leader and resident, said.
“It’s about rebirth,” she continued. “Letting go of the past, letting go of what is not needed in your life and starting fresh and new.”
Nowruz – which means new day – is a celebration that’s thousands of years old with roots in the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism and commemorates the start of Spring, lasting 13 days.
Hezar said the day before Nowruz people celebrate Chaharshanbe Suri by jumping over a bonfire, singing and dancing and lighting fireworks.
“The celebration is about good prevailing over evil, the light prevailing over darkness. So the celebration of jumping over fire symbolizes leaving behind the past year darkness and embracing the purified flames,” she said.
As part of the Nowruz celebrations, many people set up in her home what is called a Haft-Seen, a table display that includes items representative of people’s hopes and aspirations for the new year.
The main seven items that are on the Haft-seen start with the letter S in Farsi and hold symbolic meaning. These items include dried fruit for love, sprouts for rebirth, garlic for health, apples for beauty, vinegar for patience, sumac for a new day and sweet pudding for wealth.
One of the annual events in OC is the International Society of Children With Cancer (ISCC) Nowruz bazaar that sells homemade food and decorations for Haft-seen displays. The proceeds go to help children with cancer.
This year’s festival and market will be at the Hyatt Hotel in Irvine on March 15 and 16 from 10 am to 6 pm.
The local Iranian American Chamber of Commerce will also hold a festival and market at the Renaissance Newport Beach Hotel on March 9 from 12 to 7 pm.
Passover: Celebrating Liberation
The evening of April 12, communities will gather in celebration of one of the most important Jewish holidays celebrating the Israelites’s escape from slavery in Egypt as told in Exodus, the second book of the Torah.
The centerpieces of Passover traditions are the Haggadah, reading the story of the Exodus, and the Seder, a ritualistic meal telling the story through foods symbolic of the journey from slavery to freedom.
“The Seder tells the story of Jewish liberation from the slavery in Egypt,” said Mati Kirschenbaum of Temple Beth Tikvah in Fullerton.
“Passover is a festival that celebrates freedom and tells us that in each generation, we are supposed to feel as if we left Egypt. So in each generation, we need to find out what freedom means to us.”
The meal includes four cups of wine, bitter herbs, green leafy vegetables and Matzah – thin, unleavened bread said to be a reminder of how their ancestors left Egypt in a hurry, with no time for their bread to rise.
Kirschenbaum said that the message behind Matzah resonates with congregation members that fled from oppression in the Soviet Union, and Holocaust survivors.
“All these stories are kind of women in this festival when we are giving thanks for the freedom that we enjoy right now, but also realize that freedom is never given forever. It needs to be defended and appreciated.”
Lent & Easter: A Resurrection
Greek Orthodox churches will celebrate Easter or Pascha on April 20 this year following the Julian calendar.
March 3 begins what is known as Great Lent in the church – a 40-day period of fasting and prayer time in anticipation of Holy Week, which symbolically walks congregations through Jesus Christ’s journey to resurrection after crucifixion, according to Fr. Christopher Retelas, who has served at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Anaheim for over four years.
“The message is, always, that Christ is risen, but it’s an opportunity to draw closer to hope in the resurrection,” said Retelas.
“The Eastern Orthodox Church doesn’t see the crucifixion as this punishment from an angry God, and taking his wrath out on his son. We’re freed from our sins because of it.,” he said.
“We see the cross and the crucifixion as the ultimate symbol of love that God has lowered himself to be with us in our pain and our suffering and our shame, in our guilt and our woundedness and our brokenness and the resurrection is that perfect, great light of healing.”
Catholics will also celebrate Easter on April 20 by attending church services, getting together with their families to eat and doing egg hunts for the kids after the Lenten season of sacrifice.
Father Angelos Sebastian, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Orange and Pastor at Saint Kilian Church in Mission Viejo, said Easter is the most important celebration for Catholics.
“Easter celebrates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and that is the very foundation of our Christian faith,” he said. “Our Lord’s rising from the dead is also our victory over sin and death.”
Before the Easter celebration, Catholics will also embark on a 40-day fast for Lent – abstaining from meat, praying and giving to charity.
“During the season of Lent, we very intentionally and purposefully focus on these areas and that is to renew our own spiritual life,” Sebastian said. “Fasting helps us to discipline ourselves, because spiritual life requires a lot of discipline.”
The last week of Lent – called Holy Week – starts with Palm Sunday which commemorates Jesus Christ’s entry and welcome into Jerusalem where Christians believe he begins a week-long journey that will culminate in his crucifixion, death for the sins of the world and resurrection on Easter.
Vesak – A Festival of Flowers
Vesak is the most sacred day for Buddhist communities globally.
Celebrated on the first full moon of May each year, it commemorates the birth of Siddhārtha Gautama, his enlightenment and death as Gautama Buddha.
The celebration is also known as Buddha Day, Wesak, Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and other names across different cultures and branches of Buddhism.
In Japan, it’s called Hanamatsuri, or Flower Festival.
“I’ve noticed that every Buddhist tradition kind of sees Hanamatsuri through their lens,” said Rev. Jon Turner, a minister at Orange County Buddhist Church in Anaheim.
Following the branch of pure land Buddhism, the temple celebrates only the birth of Buddha on Hanamatsuri, commemorating his enlightenment and death separately on Bodhi Day and Parinirvana Day, respectively.
A central ritual involved pouring sweet tea over a statue of Buddha as an infant placed in a flower-covered pavilion.
Other traditions involve adorning temples with flowers, parades and festivals – like the Orange County Buddhist Church’s two-day Hanamatsuri festival on April 12 and 13 this year.
Turner usually deconstructs the story of the Buddha’s birth, explaining symbols and metaphors.
“The Buddha’s life story is kind of an archetypal story. You can overlay his journey onto your life,” said Turner.
“I challenge people to ask themselves, ‘when did I start to follow the path?’ and ‘when did I begin to see things more clearly,’’ he said. “It’s kind of a model for us.”
Rev. Dr. Mutsumi Wondra reminds her congregation to find meaning in life.
“I like to share the message that everybody’s life is very precious, everybody receives a birth, and it’s wonderful,” said Wondra, who has been a minister at Orange County Buddhist Temple for a decade.
“We have to really appreciate our growth and receive the birth, and find the meaning to live this life, to fulfill our life.”
Erika Taylor is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow and photojournalist. You can find her on Instagram @camerakeepsrolling or email at etaylor@voiceofoc.org.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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