Navruz is a national holiday celebrated all over Uzbekistan including Tashkent. It is the celebration of spring and it marks the start of the Persian New Year in Central Asia. People from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds take part in the festivities. Since the start, it has been a pagan and a folk holiday and it is has been celebrated for more than 3000 years. People prepare for it by cleaning their towns and cities and huge feasts are prepared. Navruz is celebrated over the period of one month, starting 21st March.