ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Thousands of people gathered in Duhok on Monday to celebrate the Assyrian New Year with live musical performances and traditional dances.
Members of the Assyrian community took part in the celebrations wearing their traditional clothes, which date back more than 6 thousand years and reflect Iraq's ancient, rich and multicultural history.
Daniel Sada has traveled thousands of miles from the United States to join his community members in Duhok in order to celebrate the Akitu festival.
"Our purpose is to come here, to Iraq, to celebrate the Assyrian Babylon new year," Sada said. "The Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac people are one. We have one history, one common thick team together."
The Akitu festival marks the rebirth of nature in the spring, event which secures the lives and future of people for the year to come.
"This is the April first feast, our Assyrian new year. I wore Assyrian traditional clothes. The atmosphere here is very beautiful. Many people are here and many of them are dressed in Assyrian clothes. We are very grateful to the people of Duhok for helping and joining us. We are all one. This is a festival for all," Iyana Asliwa, an Assyrian woman taking part in the Akitu celebrations, told Rudaw.
Traditionally a twelve-day festival, Akitu is celebrated by Assyrians worldwide with parties, parades, and other cultural activities on the first day of April.
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