Following weeks of escalating protests in Iran and thousands reported dead, the Iranian Students’ Cultural Organization, or ISCO, canceled its annual Norouz Show for the first time in more than 30 years.
The show was planned for Mar. 15 but ISCO said the severity of the situation made it difficult to move ahead with the event, according to an Instagram post shared Monday. “Moving forward with a large, celebratory performance no longer feels aligned with the emotional reality our community is living through or with the values at the heart of Norouz itself,” the post wrote.
Protests broke out in Iran in Dec. 2025in response to the national currency’s collapse, with citizens demanding for government reform and an improvement on human rights issues. The country was put under a state-imposed blackout in early January, and thousands of protesters have been killed by state violence, according to several international human rights organizations.
Norouz is a 3,000-year-old celebration of the Persian New Yearand falls on the day of the spring equinox.Iranians around the world celebrate across 13 days with various traditional meals and activities, including bonfires and performances similar to ISCO’s annual celebration. Sara Shirazi, a copresident of ISCO, said Norouz is a time for “growth and renewal.”
Typically, ISCO’s Norouz Show includes music, singing, art, poetry, audience interaction and dancing.The show draws both UC Berkeley students and local Bay Area residents looking for a place to celebrate.The event was set to be held at International House, and has always sold out, according to Kimiya Attar, an ISCO copresident.
“It really was not an easy decision,” Attar said. “We came to this decision after a lot of internal dialogue, and it was honestly one of the hardest decisions that we as a board have ever had to make.”
Attar said Norouz has deep ties with Iranian culture and history, and added that it has been celebrated even in moments of “tragedy.” However, after conversations with the ISCO board, chairs and the greater community, they felt a responsibility to respond to “where the community’s emotions were at.”
Shirazi also said a number of other Iranian student organizations throughout California and the U.S. have also canceled their Norouz celebrations. Attar said seeing other campuses pause their celebration helped affirm their decision.
ISCO said it is planning to hold a smaller, more intimate celebration, according to the Instagram post. Shirazi noted that ISCO is focusing its events on offering community spaces where people can connect this semester.
ISCO’s decision to cancel Norouz follows a demonstration the group co-hosted last week in solidarity with Iran. Shirazi said ISCO hopes to not only share Iranian culture with the UC Berkeley community, but to educate people on current events unfolding in Iran.
“We just hope that there’s a willingness to lead this cause with compassion, and amplify the stories that our family members and friends and loved ones in Iran are sharing right now with us,” Attar said. “I think our core responsibility is to share what they are saying.”