Updated November 2026, ahead of Yalda Night.
Yalda Night falls on Monday 21 December 2026. It is the night of 30 Azar 1405, the last night of autumn in the Iranian calendar. Families gather at the house of the oldest relative. They eat red fruit and nuts and stay up reading Hafez until well past midnight.
The night has a second name, Shab-e Chelleh, the night of forty. It refers to the forty coldest days of winter that follow. Yalda itself comes from a Syriac word for birth, the birth of the sun. After the solstice the days lengthen again, and light slowly wins back the year.
The custom is older than Islam in Iran. The longest night was once thought dangerous, so people kept the fire lit and stayed awake together until dawn. It survived as a family occasion. Iranians of every faith keep it today, and so do people in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. In 2022 UNESCO added Yalda/Chella to its list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, on a joint nomination from Afghanistan and Iran.
Yalda Night 2026 is not a public holiday. Offices and schools open on Tuesday 22 December as usual. Most families now settle for a very late night. Grandparents still talk about staying up until sunrise.
The Yalda Night table
Red is the colour of the night, for the glow of dawn. Pomegranates come first, served whole or as a bowl of seeds with a pinch of golpar. Watermelon is the other essential. A slice on Yalda is said to keep winter illness away. Ajil, the festive nut mix, fills the bowls between them. The Yalda version blends pistachios, almonds and hazelnuts with roasted chickpeas, raisins and dried mulberries. Persimmons are in season, and most tables end with pastries or halva.
What to cook for Yalda Night
Yalda Night in 2026, as in every year, has no single set dish. Many families cook a rice dish or a big pot of ash. Our ash reshteh recipe feeds a crowd. Fesenjoon, the walnut and pomegranate stew, suits the colours of the night. For the side table, try zeytoon parvardeh, olives in a walnut and pomegranate marinade. More ideas are in our Persian recipes. For a full menu, see our guide to Yalda Night food.
Hafez and fal-e Hafez
No Yalda is complete without the Divan of Hafez, the fourteenth-century poet of Shiraz. The custom is fal-e Hafez. Each guest makes a silent wish. Then someone opens the book at random and reads the poem on that page as the answer. The oldest person at the table usually reads. The interpretation is half the fun, and it can be generous or teasing. Some families also read from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.
Hafez in English for your Yalda Night 2026 table. The Collected Poems of Hafiz gathers all 47 of Edward Byles Cowell’s translations in one paperback. Cowell was the Victorian scholar who taught Persian to Edward FitzGerald, and his versions keep close to the original. It is a good small book to pass round the table for fal-e Hafez in English.
What Yalda costs in 2026
Yalda has become a story about prices. Last December a standard Yalda table cost about 1.7mn tomans at government-set prices, according to reports. The same basket cost 2.33 times as much at the shops around Tajrish Square. Tehran’s nut sellers’ union capped top-grade Yalda ajil at 1.3mn tomans a kilogramme. The city’s municipal fruit markets set pomegranates at 105,000 tomans a kilogramme.
Many families now buy half a kilo of nuts where they once bought several. Prices for 1405 are set in the week before Yalda, and LiT will add them here. The municipal fruit and vegetable markets, known as meydan-e tarebar, are usually the cheapest places to buy. Buying a few days early also helps. Our Iran prices pages track the toman.
If you are invited
The real Yalda happens at home, so accept an invitation if you get one. Bring something for the table. Pomegranates or a box of pastries both work. If the hosts have a newly engaged or married couple in the family, a small gift for the couple is customary. Greet everyone with “Yalda mobarak”. Expect a late night and a reading from Hafez.
Yalda in Tehran
The week before Yalda is the time to walk the markets. Tajrish Bazaar is piled high with pomegranates and watermelons. The Grand Bazaar sells ajil by the sack. Tehran Municipality has in recent years run Yalda programmes across its 22 districts, with music and storytelling in parks. Many cafés decorate for the night, and some host poetry readings.
December is also smog season in Tehran. Check the air-quality index before a day out, and read our smog guide.
Yalda abroad
Iranian communities from Los Angeles to London hold public Yalda gatherings, and many families abroad keep the night at home. In Afghanistan it is Shab-e Chelleh. In Tajikistan it is Shabi Yaldo. For the other great turning point of the Iranian year, see our guide to Nowruz.
Yalda Night 2026 questions
What date is Yalda Night 2026?
Monday 21 December 2026, the night of 30 Azar 1405. Tuesday 22 December is 1 Dey, the first day of winter in the Iranian calendar.
When is the solstice?
At 00:20 Iran Standard Time on Tuesday 22 December, which is 20:50 UT on 21 December. Source: the US Naval Observatory.
Is Yalda a religious festival?
No. Its roots are seasonal and pre-Islamic. Iranians of all backgrounds keep it as a family occasion.
Why pomegranates and watermelon?
Their red flesh stands for dawn and the warmth of life. The pomegranate is also a symbol of fertility and renewal.
Learn the Persian: Learn the Persian months, the days of the week and how to say a date in Persia Learning’s lesson on time, days and the Persian calendar. Try the first lesson free →
Reading Hafez on Yalda night. If you want to try fal-e Hafez at home, you will need a copy of the Divan of Hafez. For English readers, Dick Davis’s Faces of Love is the translation we recommend, and our guide to Persian poetry in English suggests where to go next.
Pomegranates and the sofreh. Our guide to Persian kitchen essentials covers a pomegranate deseeder, a ghalamkar tablecloth and more for your Yalda table, and our guide to where to start with Persian music has the music.
This year the solstice arrives at 00:20 Iran time, twenty minutes into Tuesday 22 December.
This Yalda Night 2026 guide contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, LiT may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read our disclosure.
