The 2012 Nowruz Festival broke the record for the largest Nowruz celebration in the entire South of the United States. With over 4000 in attendance, the audience was delighted with the programming while breaking last year’s record 3500+ attendance. Hosted by the Iranian Cultural Foundation for the fourth year at Discovery Green Park, the event was chaired by ICF board member Dr. Saina Esfandiari with a dedicated crew over 40 committee members and volunteers.
Emceeing the event for the second year in a row was ABC 13’s own Sonia Azad. She was joined by Iranian comedian Tehran SoParvaz. The children of the ICF school delighted audiences with various dance and song routines including a Haft Seen presentation and a rendition of “Ey Iran”. Amin Marashi took to stage for the first time in Houston in front of a festival audience and did not disappoint. The crowd went crazy for his original pop stylings and covers of retro hits. The evening was concluded with none other than the king of Persian pop music, Shahram Shabpareh. With over 20 albums worth of music, he delighted the audience with both old and new hits.
The ICF would like to thank everyone in attendance for yet another memorable year. ICF has more exciting concerts and events coming up throughout the year so stay tuned. Please also contact us if you’re interested in our week-long summer day camp program for kids. We are currently generating an interest list for all age levels.