Nowruz 2027: The Equinox Time and Why the Persian New Year Is March 21

The March equinox in 2027 falls on Saturday, March 20 at 20:25 Universal Time (UT), to the minute, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO). In Tehran that is 11:55 p.m. on March 20, so Nowruz, the Persian New Year, begins on Sunday, March 21, 2027. In New York it is 4:25 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The table below converts the moment for 11 cities.

Nowruz 2027 equinox time in Tehran, Kabul and U.S. cities

USNO’s Earth’s Seasons data lists the March 2027 equinox as {"day": 20, "month": 3, "phenom": "Equinox", "time": "20:25", "year": 2027}. The conversions below are our arithmetic from that time, using each city’s offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). U.S. daylight saving time begins on March 14, 2027, so the U.S. cities are on daylight time on the equinox.

City	Offset used	Local time of the equinox	Local date
Los Angeles	UTC-7 (PDT)	1:25 p.m.	Sat., March 20
Denver	UTC-6 (MDT)	2:25 p.m.	Sat., March 20
Chicago	UTC-5 (CDT)	3:25 p.m.	Sat., March 20
New York	UTC-4 (EDT)	4:25 p.m.	Sat., March 20
London	UTC+0 (GMT)	8:25 p.m.	Sat., March 20
Istanbul	UTC+3	11:25 p.m.	Sat., March 20
Tehran	UTC+3:30	11:55 p.m.	Sat., March 20
Baku	UTC+4	12:25 a.m.	Sun., March 21
Kabul	UTC+4:30	12:55 a.m.	Sun., March 21
Dushanbe	UTC+5	1:25 a.m.	Sun., March 21
Delhi	UTC+5:30	1:55 a.m.	Sun., March 21

For Tehran we use UTC+3:30. Iran stopped observing daylight saving time in 2022, as reported, so the offset is the same in March 2027. The moment of the equinox is called Saal Tahvil, and some communities mark that moment itself, which is why the Americas see it on March 20.

For comparison, USNO lists the 2026 equinox at 14:46 UT on March 20, 2026. That was 6:16 p.m. in Tehran, so 1 Farvardin 1405 began on March 21, 2026 by the same rule. In 2027 the equinox comes 5 hours and 39 minutes later in the day in UT, and only 5 minutes before Tehran’s midnight.

Why Nowruz 2027 starts on March 21 when the equinox is March 20

Nowruz is the first day of the Iranian (Solar Hijri) year, and the year that begins in 2027 is 1406. Descriptions of the rule that fixes the first day differ. Some describe a noon cutoff in Tehran: an equinox before noon makes that day the first, and an equinox after noon makes the next day the first. Others describe a rule tied to the midnight nearest the equinox. We could not reach the University of Tehran Institute of Geophysics pages, so we do not call either description official.

Under both descriptions the 2027 answer is the same. An equinox at 11:55 p.m. Tehran time on March 20 is after noon and also nearest the midnight that starts March 21, so 1 Farvardin 1406 is Sunday, March 21, 2027. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) page for the International Day of Nowruz, dated March 18, 2021, says: “The International Day of Nowruz occurs on 21st March, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.”

Why Nowruz dates differ between sites

Two different things carry the name. The equinox is one instant, and its calendar date depends on the time zone: March 20 in the Americas, Europe and Istanbul, March 21 from Baku eastward in the table above. The date of Nowruz follows Tehran’s calendar, which here is March 21. A page that lists March 20 can be giving the equinox moment, which is 4:25 p.m. ET on that day.

Our March 2027 printable calendar has room to mark the equinox at 4:25 p.m. EDT. The daylight saving change that sets the EDT label is in our 2027 clock change guide.

Nowruz 2027 dates: 1 to 13 Farvardin

The first 13 days of Farvardin run from March 21 to April 2, 2027. The 13th day is Sizdah Bedar, the outdoor 13th day. Dates are counted by us from 1 Farvardin 1406 on March 21.

Farvardin	Date in 2027
1 (Nowruz)	Sun., March 21
2	Mon., March 22
3	Tue., March 23
4	Wed., March 24
5	Thu., March 25
6	Fri., March 26
7	Sat., March 27
8	Sun., March 28
9	Mon., March 29
10	Tue., March 30
11	Wed., March 31
12	Thu., April 1
13 (Sizdah Bedar)	Fri., April 2

Iran’s public holidays for Nowruz are set by its government, and the 1406 holiday calendar is not yet published, so this table gives calendar dates only. A printable yearly calendar helps place the week.

Which countries share the UNESCO Nowruz inscription?

UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee inscribed Nowruz in 2009. A 2016 decision replaced that entry with a 12-country inscription. As of the 2016 decision the countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. A later extension was not confirmed. The decision pages are listed in the sources.

Print the Nowruz 2027 equinox sheet

The printable “Nowruz 2027 Equinox Times by City” marks March 20 and 21 on a March 2027 calendar, with the equinox times for Tehran, Istanbul, London and four U.S. cities, and the source note for USNO and UNESCO.