It’s the weekend before Nowruz! How to prepare for rebirth and renewal? Catch a concert with Hani Niroo on guitar and xylophone in Farsi, then sing along with Sophia Grigoriadis, Maryem Tollar and Brenna MacCrimmon on tambura, ukulele and percussion as they bring songs from Greece, Turkey, the Arab world and the Balkans. Learn about Haft Seen, colour and paint with Nassim Fatehi, Gina Fayazi and Ana Ilka. Get some rhythm with Naghmeh Farahmand at her percussion workshop on tombak. Listen to Sahar Golshan’s new book, So Loud!, about a little girl who finds her voice during Nowruz with her grandmother from Iran. Dance and sing with Begum Boyancı and hear stories about Hıdrellez and then make a red and white Marti bracelet to keep March sunburns away with Vassiliki Tsezou.

There will be coffee, tea, pastries and Persian cuisine with arts and crafts activities going on all day long, and multiple concerts, workshops and storytelling sessions for children aged 10 and under. Bonus – babies under three get in free.

Here is the line-up for both Saturday and Sunday from 11–3pm:

11:00am Gina Fayazi – Haft Seen colouring and painting
11:00am Vassiliki Tsezou – Marti bracelet making
11:00am Nassim Fatehi and Ana Ilka – Arts and crafts
11:30am Naghmeh Farahmand – Percussion for kids
12:00pm Sophia Grigoriadis, Maryem Tollar and Brenna MacCrimmon – Songs in Arabic, English, Greek and Turkish
12:30pm Sahar Golshan – Storytime with her new book So Loud!
1:00pm Hani Niroo – Songs in Farsi
1:30pm Begum Boyancı – Songs, dance and Hıdrellez stories
2:00pm Sophia Grigoriadis, Maryem Tollar and Brenna MacCrimmon – Songs in Arabic, English, Greek and Turkish

Link Music Lab gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Canadian Heritage. Presented in association with Small World Music.