Persian culture celebrated at NYC parade

A procession of floats, dancers and flag carriers flooded Madison Avenue in Manhattan Sunday with ancient colors and modern electronic beats during the ninth annual Persian Parade.

Dancers clad in red robes and white costumes leaped and Sufi dervishes twirled between the floats while the thousands of parade-watchers lining the sidewalks occasionally burst into song and dance.

Faridoon Fasiser, 57, an Iranian-American from Queens, said he was surprised when he stumbled into the first parade nine years ago.

"I'm still surprised," he said, to see so many come out to celebrate the old culture.

The event, put together by the Persian Parade Foundation, is billed as nonpolitical and nonreligious. Islamic iconography was downplayed while many floats carried paintings of Zoroaster, a prophet who lived in what is now modern-day Iran and founded Zoroastrianism, a religion that existed for centuries before Islam and flourished under the rule of the Shah, before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

"It's a sign of resistance against the Islamic regime we have now," said Fasiser.

Ferri Mir, a realtor from New Jersey, agreed that there was a stronger connection to Zoroastrianism among Iranians who came to the United States.

"These people are immigrants," she said. "That's why they're here."

The parade brings together many Iranians from around New York and the country.

"My favorite is when all the Iranians get together from all over America," said Bahar Beheshtin, of Washington, D.C., one of the dancers. "It's one of the biggest in the country."