The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority is pleased to announce that on Sunday, April 1st 2012 it will open the Bull Run Special Events Center in Centreville, Virginia to accommodate the Persian cultural festival known as 13 Bedar (or Sizdah Bedar).
"We really believe that the Bull Run Special Events Center provides the best opportunity to make this event everything the Persian community would like it to be," said NVRPA Executive Director Paul Gilbert. "There's ample parking and space, there will be DJs playing live music, dancing, food vendors and more." In addition to being a large enough site for this event, the Special Events Center at Bull Run has the Cub Run stream flowing through it.
Sizdah Bedar (or 13 Bedar) is a day of celebration in the outdoors in Persian culture. This day falls on the 13th day of the Persian calendar, which usually falls in early April. Part of the tradition is to knot blades of grass or wheat and send them downstream. With Cub Run flowing next to the Special Events Center, it provides a perfect place for this custom that symbolizes out with the old and beginning a new year.
In past years, many have used Algonkian Regional Park on this day. However, Algonkian is not designed to accommodate groups of this size which is why the event has been moved to Bull Run Special Events Center. Algonkian Park is limited to a maximum capacity of 600 cars and 2,400 people, which is less than half the number of those who have attended it in the past. This maximum capacity will not allow everyone who would like to participate in 13 Bedar to attend if it stayed at Algonkian.
Bull Run Special Events Center is located in Centreville, just 26 miles from Algonkian Regional Park. Driving directions can be found here. The park will be open from 9 a.m – 6 p.m. on April 1, 2012. For more information on the Special Events Center, visit www.nvrpa.org.
