TEHRAN – A flower festival dedicated to the daffodils is planned to be held in Khafr county, southern Fars province, on December 8, the provincial tourism chief has announced.

The festival, which will run for four days, aims at promoting travel attractions and tourism potentials, Hadi Shahdoust Shirazi said on Tuesday.

A destination has a crucial role in the development of the tourism industry, and tourists are more likely to be attracted to it if the destination offers them unique and new experiences, the official explained.

The events such as flower festivals have a precise effect on minimizing the effects of seasonal tourism and ensuring equitable distribution of resources, he added.

In Persian culture and literature, the daffodil symbolizes the eye, usually the eye of the beloved. In poetry, the beloved is likened to the daffodil because of its leafless and green stem, which is hollowed out, straw-like, and curved, which is associated with humility and dignity.

Flowers have also thrived into the Persian language. Many girls are named after flowers: Ra’na (Blanket Flowers), Shaghayegh (Anemone), Banafsheh (Violet), Yaasaman (Jasmine), Niloofar (Lotus flower), Nastaran (Eglantine), Laleh (Tulip), Narges (Daffodil), etc.

The ancient region of Fars also spelled Pars, or Persis was the heart of the Achaemenian Empire (550–330 BC), which was founded by Cyrus the Great and had its capital at Pasargadae. Darius I the Great moved the capital to nearby Persepolis in the late 6th or early 5th century BC.

The capital city of Shiraz is home to some of the country’s most magnificent buildings and sights. Increasingly, it draws more and more foreign and domestic sightseers flocking into this provincial capital which was the literary capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1751 to 1794.

ABU/AFM