In Pictures: Iran celebrates ancient fire festival ahead of Persian New Year

Chaharshanbe Souri is an ancient festival of fire (AP)

Iran has marked its annual fire festival.

Known as “Chaharshanbe Souri” in Farsi, the ancient festival comes on the last Tuesday of the year, ahead of Nowruz, the Persian New Year (March 20).

Singing and dancing can be seen on the streets of Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP)

The festival celebrates the arrival of spring as part of the Persian New Year (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Others jump over and around fires, chanting: “My yellow is yours, your red is mine,” invoking the replacement of ills with warmth and energy.

Fireworks, bonfires and wishing lanterns floating across the night sky are common features (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Jumping over a bonfire is a common sight on Tehran’s streets during the festival (Vahid Salemi/AP)

The fire festival also features an Iranian version of trick-or-treating, with people going door to door and being given a holiday mix of nuts and berries, as well as buckets of water.

The fire festival comes ahead of Nowruz, the Persian new year (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Bonfires, fireworks and a form of trick-or-treating take place during the festival (AP)

The joy sometimes overcomes safety concerns as smoke fills the air and fireworks explode at random overhead.

The Wednesday Feast, or Chaharshanbe Souri, means ‘festive’ or sometimes ‘scarlet’ in the Persian language (AP)

There are injuries every year, and sometimes deaths.

People shop for the Persian new year, or Nowruz, the most important holiday for Iranians (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Iranians celebrate in the streets, even as tensions rise internationally with the US (Vahid Salemi/AP)