The scientific session dedicated to the Nowruz holiday, titled “Nowruz Holiday: Collective Memory and Regional Features,” was held at the Institute of Folklore of ANAS. Prior to the event, participants were introduced with an exhibition organized at the Institute featuring publications related to Nowruz.

Opening the session with an introductory speech, Director of the Institute of Folklore of ANAS, Doctor of Sciences in Philology Hikmat Guliyev, estimated the place of Nowruz in the collective memory of the Azerbaijani people and its ritual-mythological roots within a scientific-theoretical context. He noted that Nowruz was not merely a calendar ritual, but also a complex semantic system that incorporated cultural codes, archaic world models and norms of social behavior. From this perspective, the study of the holiday lied at the intersection of folklore studies, ethnology and cultural anthropology, providing important scholarly material for reconstructing the historical experience of the people.

In his speech, the director also emphasized that in the context of globalization, the preservation and systematic archiving of national cultural heritage was among the priority directions. According to him, the collection and comparative study of regional characteristics, particularly Nowruz traditions specific to Western and Southern Azerbaijan, are of special importance for forming a comprehensive picture of Azerbaijani culture. Hikmat Guliyev noted that such scientific sessions served both to generalize existing knowledge and to identify new research perspectives.

At the session, Doctor of Sciences in Philology, Associate Professor Matanat Abbasova; PhD in Philology, Associate Professor Ilkin Rustamzade and PhD in Philology, Associate Professor Gulsumkhanim Hasilova made presentations about the holiday Nowruz.

The session continued with further presentations and extensive discussions on the topic. Professor Almaz Hasanqizi spoke about archaic rituals performed during Novruz ceremonies in Ordubad; PhD in Philology, Associate Professor Elchin Abbasov and Doctor of Sciences in Philology, Associate Professor Shakir Albaliev discussed the characteristics of the pre-holiday Tuesdays; Afaq Mustafayeva spoke about the attributes of festive trays (khonchas), especially carpets and the beliefs and sayings associated with them; while PhD in Philology Vusala Nasibova and doctoral student Jamila Novruzova shared their views on foreign elements that had entered the rituals in modern times.