TEHRAN – An annual rosewater festival being held in the border city of Baneh, western Iran, has been officially inscribed in the country’s national tourism events calendar, becoming the tenth registered tourism event of Kordestan province, provincial tourism chief announced on Monday.
Pouya Talebnia told local reporters that the registration was confirmed through an official certificate issued by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts. The festival has been listed with registration number 104191109 at the local level, as part of national efforts to professionalize and organize tourism events across the country.
Talebnia noted that the Baneh Rosewater Festival is held annually around June 1, coinciding with the traditional rose-harvest season. “With the formal inclusion of this event, the number of registered tourism festivals and ceremonies in Kordestan Province has reached ten,” he said, adding that Baneh now joins other cities of the province in strengthening its position within Iran’s cultural tourism landscape.
He described the registration as a significant step in showcasing the province’s ritual and cultural capacities. “This recognition will help promote culture-based tourism and revive valuable local traditions,” Talebnia stated.
Kordestan’s registered tourism events now include the Pir-Shalyar wedding ceremony, the Komsa ritual, the Sanandaj Nowruz Festival, Nowruz of Tangisar, Winter Nowruz, strawberry festival, the Palangan Hezar-Daf ceremony, grape festival.
Local cultural observers say the festival marks a new chapter for Baneh’s agriculture sector, where the fragrance of the Mohammadi rose blends with the promise of economic growth and sustainable rural development.
Iran’s rosewater-making tradition, known as Golab-Giri, is historically rooted in the central city of Kashan and its surrounding villages, where that kind of purple rose has been cultivated and distilled for centuries. Each year in May and June, communities in the region celebrate the harvest with rosewater festivals, honoring a time-honored craft that continues to flourish across the country — now including the city of Baneh.
In that regard, Iran plans to submit its own nomination file to UNESCO to register the country’s centuries-old tradition of rosewater distillation as an element of intangible cultural heritage. According to Alireza Izadi, director general for the registration and preservation of cultural heritage at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Iranian file would be submitted separately, clarifying recent reports suggesting a possible joint registration with other countries.
“Iran has its own rituals and traditions related to rosewater distillation, and ‘Golab’ is a Persian word,” Izadi said on Sunday. “The registration of Iran’s Golab-Giri will be pursued independently.” His remarks appeared to address speculation about potential collaboration with Saudi Arabia, which in 2024 registered its Taif rose practices on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
A Golab-Giri festival begins with a procession of the locals carrying baskets of roses to local distilleries. The flowers are then sorted and placed in large copper pots where they are boiled to produce the oil. The pots are made from bricks, stones, and mud. Aside from the actual production of rosewater, the attendees may roam through vibrant bazaars where local vendors sell all sorts of rose-infused products, such as perfumes, soaps, and even tea. In fact, rosewater is an essential ingredient in Persian cuisine. Furthermore, there are various musical and cultural events, including folk dances and traditional performances.
Flower harvesting is almost completed early in the morning. According to rumors, essential oil quantity and quality decline as a result of delays in harvesting or transport to the distillery. For part of its process, some 80 liters of water and almost 30 kilograms of rose petals are added to each pot, which is connected to metal pipes to allow steam to pass through to create the hydrosol. Distillation waste can either be fed to animals or composted.
Locals believe that rose oil and rosewater have therapeutic rewards. Some say rose oil calms the mind and relieves depression, grief, stress, and tension, adding that rosewater products help improve skin health, colds, and digestive system issues.
AM
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