Rose Water Festival

Since 5th May till 15th June, a festival is held in Iran so-called “Rose-Water Festival “. The first Question which may appear in your mind is that what exactly this festival is about? Which City executes this festival?  Why people consider this festival as a “must be” in Iran?
So we are here in order to give you some information about all the details of such a festival. 

Rose Water festival is one of the most visited happy events in Iran that attracts so many people annually. They even travel to cities which pay more attention to this annual happy gathering. Actually, people really like to watch the process of distillation from flowers and after that buy original Rose Water and distillate after they have seen all the procedure.
Kashan is so well-known for holding this festival due to its flowers which grow in the middle of desert! Yes, really in the middle of nowhere that you can only find flat dry ground, your eyes are suddenly caught by some special types of flowers called "Gol-e Mohammadi” or Damask Rose.

It should be mentioned that not only Iranian people come to visit this festival, but also people from all over the world are interested to experience it. So Kashan is a host to many tourists every year for Rose-water festival. This experience will be so unique for you since it’s a festival full of colors and delicate smell.
In May Damask Rose flowers have grown enough and are actually ready to be picked. These flowers are picked altogether. After that, the procedure of distillation from flowers is going to be done. The event can take place almost in or in front of every house! So that you can find a big pot in front of each house, doing the distillation from flowers. This so important to hold this festival in towns which are close to Kashan Called Ghamsar and Niasar (30 km away).

It might be interesting for you to know that the syrup (distillate) which is taken from the damask flower is so useful for some pains in the body, like, stomachache, headache, pains in the eyes or even intestine and it’s very good for making dry skins so soft and delicate. Other advantages of Rose-water are that it’s been usually used in some religious ceremonies since its smell makes you feel so calm and relaxed. We can say that this nice smell just gets away any stress from you.

It’s a custom since about 140 years ago that these flowers have been carried by donkey or camel while playing traditional musical instruments called “Sazo Dohol”. Even these days some people are using camels as an illustration of old custom and tradition. 

Steps of the festival:

One of the reasons why so many tourists are visiting this festival in Kashan every year is that it’s performed and done traditionally.
First of all, when you arrive in Kashan in May, you will for sure feel such huge heat so here is when you are welcomed with a cool delicious syrup while watching the beauty of this event in calmness.
Before anything, big pots are put on the flames of the fireplace. These pots are mostly made of copper or aluminum. Then flowers and water are mixed in big pots (each one kg of Flowers are mixed with one liter of water).

Then these pots are covered by dish-covers. Significantly sometimes flowers are boiled in Rose-water itself, instead of water! Which makes it much thicker. Steam, after passing through the pipe, goes to a glass of cold water, and the turns into rose-water.

During this process, local people start explaining with such a sweet local accent. Then you can buy bottles of herbal beverages or extracts there. After all, you will feel so unique by experiencing such a wonderful traditional festival. Join us on Rose Water Festival Tour to touch and smell the essence of this festival to core. 

Written by:

Sara Bagheri Nezhad