Tehran Events Guide: February at a Glance

Islamic Revolution Victory Day

When? February 10
Where? Azadi Square

The major event of February in Iran is Islamic Revolution Victory Day. Each year thousands of people come to Azadi Square in Tehran to commemorate a day in 1979 when people came there to plead for the return to their own, Iranian, values which turned out to be a return to their Islamic background.

Tehran Events Guide: Christmas Edition

In Tehran Events Guide I`m introducing exhibitions, movies (in English, of course), concerts, festivals and other happenings that might interest you so that you won`t have to check multiple websites to decide where to go at the weekend! Tehran doesn`t have night life, but it doesn`t mean there is nothing to do here! So get ready to go out this weekend!

If you are staying in Tehran for Christmas holidays, don`t think that your holidays will be ruined. Although Iranians mostly don`t celebrate Christmas, there are still some places where you can catch Christmas spirit! Just take a look at some of my recommendations in my last year`s post. Moreover, life is still going on in Tehran, and there are plenty of things to do this week here!

Tehran Events Guide: December 15-21

In Tehran Events Guide I`m introducing exhibitions, movies (in English, of course), concerts, festivals and other happenings that might interest you so that you won`t have to check multiple websites to decide where to go at the weekend! Tehran doesn`t have night life, but it doesn`t mean there is nothing to do here! So get ready to go out this weekend!

Tehran Events Guide: Cinematheques in Tehran

Maybe it will be big news for some of you, but in Iranian cinemas you can watch ONLY Iranian movies. A couple of years ago a recently built shopping center Kourosh with 14 (!) cinema halls started showing some new Hollywood movies every now and then, but, unfortunately, it didn`t last long. Now foreign movie screenings are limited to cinematheques which have, however, become quite popular in Tehran. Their number is growing and there are more and more opportunities to watch a brand-new Hollywood movie or a good old European film. While some cinematheques show the retrospective of one director (like Museum of Contemporary Art) or relate their screenings to different books (like Charsou Cinema), others show a mix of old and new movies not related to each other (like Kourosh Cinema).

Tehran Events Guide: December 8-14

In Tehran Events Guide I`m introducing exhibitions, movies (in English, of course), concerts, festivals and other happenings that might interest you so that you won`t have to check multiple websites to decide where to go at the weekend! This weekend is going to be packed with interesting events happening in Tehran! 

Tehran Events Guide: December 1-7

In Tehran Events Guide I`m introducing exhibitions, movies (in English, of course), concerts, festivals and other happenings that might interest you so that you won`t have to check multiple websites to decide where to go at the weekend! The week of mourning is finally over, and lots of new cultural events are waiting for us!

Tehran Events Guide: November 24-30

One of the problems I had during these five years living in Tehran is that it is really hard to find out about different cultural events in Tehran. The situation with event promotion and informing is just horrible here. So many times I missed great events and found out about them from a friend who took part in them. Sometimes I found out about an event a day before or even the same day! In many countries there are online or paper magazines which promote various concerts, exhibitions, movies or other cultural things. Finally, if you don`t follow them, you can check the website of specific cinema, theater of gallery. Well, in Iran it`s different. There are no magazines like Time Out that can help choose where to go out this weekend, websites are outdated. Of course, Iranians are really trying to change the situation and invite more and more people to their events using social networks and distributing free brochures listing various exhibitions, but they have a long way to go.

But I have good news for you! From now on I will publish an events guide every week which I really hope will keep you updated and make going out easier for you! In this section I`ll be telling about exhibitions, movies (in English, of course), concerts, festivals and other happenings that might interest you so that you won`t have to check multiple websites to decide where to go at the weekend!

Guide to Events in Tehran: The International Tourism Fair

Tourism Fair is a very colorful event - there are lots of dancing, music, singing and other authentic stuff!

If you happen to be in Tehran in February, make sure not to miss the International Tourism Fair which is usually held in February. It can be especially useful, if you are in the beginning of your trip, and let me explain why. One of the halls, and the most colorful one, I must say, is usually dedicated to Iranian provinces. And visiting it you can see the whole Iran at one glance and decide which parts seem more interesting to you. 

Women singing in Tehran

Women singers in Iran has been an issue since the Revolution. If you are a woman, you can sing as much as you can as soon as no one can hear you.  And since then women have been fighting for their right to sing publicly. And some succeeded. Some female singers started singing with male singers, and you can hear their voice on the background. Some actresses perform group a cappella singing in a movie (watch Sadatabad for a beautiful song performed by Mahnaz Afshar and Leyla Hatami).

But nowadays female singers finally received their right to sing publicly on concerts. The only requirement is that the audience must be only female. Great progress, if you ask me!

If you are female and would like to hear Iranian traditional songs performed by a woman (although, personally, I still prefer male performance of traditional songs which is, well, more traditional :), then you should check out the concert at Niavaran Concert Hall next Friday at 1.30pm!

PS More details about the concert on the photo.