The story
Akre Nowruz Festival in Akre
On Nowruz eve, the town of Akre in Iraq's Duhok governorate sends hundreds of torch-carrying climbers up the steep mountains surrounding it, tracing lines of fire that converge into hilltop bonfires visible across the valley. The dramatic amphitheater setting has made Akre's torchlit ascent the single most iconic local Nowruz celebration in Iraqi Kurdistan.
On Nowruz eve in Akre, a hillside town in Iraq's Duhok governorate, hundreds of young men and volunteers climb the steep mountains ringing the town carrying lit torches, tracing lines of fire up the slopes that converge into bonfires visible for miles across the valley below.