March Fire

The March Fire is a participatory art event organised on Newroz, the Kurdish New Year's Eve, on March 21 at Kallahti beach in Vuosaari, Helsinki, Finland.

In the project the Newroz tradition of burning a bonfire to commemorate the overthrow of a malevolent ruler was reimagined by building a large fire sculpture instead of a bonfire. The sculpture was designed in a collaborative meeting organised for Kurds to form new, contemporary interpretations of the Newroz bonfire tradition. The design resulted in a sculpture of a throne on top of a pyramid, which was burned as part of the Newroz celebrations. The event opened the Newroz celebrations to the otherwise uninvolved residents of Helsinki and included song performances, music, and dance.