Results: Spring Equinox: The First Day of Spring

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Japan-- Vernal Equinox Day is a public holiday. Many people still adhere to old traditions such as visiting and cleaning family graves and holding family reunions to mark the spring equinox.

Iran/Turkey/Persian-- Nowruz is the Persian New Year. Also known as Nauryz, Navruz or Nowrouz, it means "new day." It's a celebration of new beginnings: wishing prosperity and welcoming the future while shedding away the past. That's why families use this time to deep clean their homes and closets and buy fresh clothing.

China-- In China, trying to stand an egg upright is a popular game during the spring equinox. The custom is thought to go back thousands of years, and it's believed that if people can get an egg to stand, they will have good luck.

India/Nepal-- Known as the festival of colors, Holi is unquestionably the most vibrantly colorful spring festival in the world. It's when Hindus in India and Nepal take to the streets to throw colored powder at each other, amidst loud music and drumming, in honor of the season's multiple hues and stories in Hindu mythology.

Thailand -- In Thailand, every spring equinox finds the locals reaching for their cannon-sized water guns, buckets, pressure hoses, or any other creative way to drench their neighbors in water. Based on the Sanskrit word for "astrological passage," Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year, and more widely known as the spring water festival. Festivities last for days and involve going to a Buddhist monastery, visiting elders, dancing in the streets to loud music, and, of course, throwing copious amounts of water at each other.

England-- Sunrise at Stonehenge. For the likes of pagans and druids, the spring equinox (Ostara) is celebrated as a time of renewal and rebirth – and 5000-year-old Stonehenge in Wiltshire is the best known place to gather in the UK. It attracts people from all over the world (including many curious tourists) who congregate at dawn to see the sun rise over the stones. Anyone making the trip can expect a friendly atmosphere amid chanting, drumming and even the occasional druid wedding.

Poland-- In Poland, they still observe the pagan tradition of the drowning of Marzanna, the Slavic goddess and symbol of winter. On the first day of spring, people burn effigies (dolls tend to be made from straw and ribbons), which are then 'drowned' in a river in a bid to usher out winter and welcome spring.

Mexico -- Mexicans and tourists alike celebrate the new season at ancient Mayan sites. At the Temple of Kukulkan on the Yucatán, a play of light and shadow during the equinox creates the illusion of a snake rippling down the northern staircase, symbolising the return of an ancient god to earth, said to bring hope for spring. At Teotihuacan, near Mexico City, pilgrims gather dressed in white with red scarves. They hold out their hands to worship the sun and welcome its energy and warmth. There is a carnival atmosphere, with music, dancing, incense-burning and hot-air balloon rides.

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