Rose water festival in Iran; an unforgettable experience

Spring in Iran accompanies many fascinating sceneries. One of these sceneries is the fields and gardens full of pink roses that can captivate visitors with their magical fragrance and beauty. As the roses are fully opened, it’s time to pick the flowers and prepare them to make rose water. It usually happens around May in spring and continues to the end of spring. Rose water festival in Iran is among the most popular Iranian festivals that attract many international and domestic travelers every year.

Here is how the whole process takes place; every morning, as the sun begins to shine, the locals go to the gardens to pick the flowers. Then they weigh the roses, put them in large pots along with water, and heat them to extract the rose water. The quality of the rose water is mainly dependent on how much rose they put in the pot; the more roses they use, the stronger the rosewater will be. High-quality rose water usually consists of 30 Kg of roses and 60 liters of water which is called double distilled extract. When they want to make it even stronger, they use rosewater instead of water in the pot! This is the best quality rose water that can be made; very bitter in taste and not very fragrant when you smell it. Actually, the real fragrance can be smelled when you use a little of this extract while cooking. So, make sure you do not buy rose water based on its smell only!

During spring, farms in the village have verdant fields filled with Damask roses. This time of year is ideal for extracting rose water from these scented flowers. There are several cities in Iran well-known for making high-quality rose water including Kashan, Ghamsar, and Niasar. The local people warmly welcome the visitors to watch the festival and they honestly explain how to make rose water and how to recognize the quality when shopping. During this time, you will be able to experience the process of creating rose water extract by hand at the Matinabad eco-camp. This is an amazing experience you should not miss when traveling to Iran in Spring.

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