The Assyrian New Year is a spring holiday celebrated by indigenous Assyrians in northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and northwest Iran.

The festival's origins can be traced back to the ancient Mesopotamian religion followed by Assyrians until its eventual extinction in the face of Syriac Christianity between the first and fourth century AD. Today, the majority of Assyrians are Christians, with the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Syriac Catholic Church, Ancient Church of the East, Assyrian Pentecostal Church, and Assyrian Evangelical Church being the most prominent. Depending on church denomination, some ethnic Assyrians identify as Chaldeans or Syriacs.

Parades and receptions are common features of celebrations. Some Assyrians dress up in traditional attire and dance for hours. Celebrations are held in Assyria and other Middle Eastern countries, as well as in the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the Caucasus among Assyrian diaspora populations. Parties involving food, music, and dancing are common.

Every year on April 1st, the Assyrian New Year is celebrated in all nations where Assyrians live. The day is marked by celebrations, including long parades in colorful attire and ancient costumes. Students, dignitaries, men and women alike attend the festivities, dancing for hours in the streets and parks. Iraqis, like the rest of the world, observed the Georgian calendar New Year on January 1.

Time: April 1

The Iraq Short Film Festival, founded in 2005, honors films made by and for Iraqis. This is the second one among the most popular festivals in Iraq. Throughout Baghdad, a series of short films in Arabic or Kurdish are exhibited. The festival runs from August 1 until September 30.

Short and feature-length fiction films and documentaries by known and rising Iraqi directors based in Iraq and the diaspora are included in the festival's lineup. The program is divided into two strands of short films: new-wave filmmaking and contemporary feminisms in Iraqi cinema.

The festival is the brainchild of four Iraqis living in the diaspora: Ahmed al-Habib, the inventor of the shakomakonet digital platform; Israa al-Kamali, an Iraqi writer and poet; Shahnaz Dulaimy, a feature-film editor; and Roisin Tapponi, an editor, curator, and founder of the Habibi collective.

The film festival, according to the organizers, is intended to assist build the identity of emerging post-2003 Iraqi cinema, provide opportunities for Iraqi filmmakers, and challenge preconceptions.

Time: August 1 - September 30

The next one in our list of the most poipular festivals in Iraq is Babylon International Festival.

The Babylon International Festival, held once a year, incorporates all facets of the arts and music. The event celebrates science and culture by featuring folkloric ensembles, singing, musicals, stage plays, seminars, workshops, and other activities from other countries and civilizations. Its main purpose is to pass on ancient traditions to future generations in order to preserve them. The yearly event runs from September 22 through October 1.

Time: September 22 - October 1

Christmas Day (December 25) is honored differently in Iraq than in the West by the country's few remaining Christians.

The day is observed by a formal reading of the Arabic Bible's nativity story. During the reading, family members hold lit candles as they listen, and once the story is finished, a bonfire is lit in the courtyard using the candles and a pile of dried thorns, symbolic of the household's future in the next year. When the thorns have completely burned, family members jump over the ashes and make a wish. Local churches also have religious services, which are followed by processionals.

Time: December 25