Kashan’s Golabgiri Festival has officially been recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of Iran and added to the global list of heritage events.
Alireza Abdollahzadeh, head of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Department in Kashan, announced that the festival has been included in the national tourism events list of Iran.
He explained, “In line with the government’s efforts to organize and professionalize tourism events, the Golabgiri Festival of Kashan was registered internationally on May 2, 2025, under registration number 50404132 as part of Iran’s tourism calendar.”
Abdollahzadeh highlighted that Golabgiri is not only a process for producing rosewater but also a cultural, ritualistic, and economic event that has become one of the main attractions for spring tourism in central Iran over recent decades.
He further added that the traditional method of Golabgiri is still preserved in the villages surrounding Kashan and is now recognized as part of Iran’s “intangible cultural heritage.”
The festival begins with a collective effort of picking roses before dawn, followed by the lighting of large cauldrons. As the sun rises, the sweet scent spreads across the villages and towns in the region.
