Water Festival; Oriented Tourism Development in Desert Lands of Iran

According to the various studies and research, on different ceremonies, customs, legends and rituals of people all over the world, water has been praised as the symbol of birth and fertility. Also, the nations have always believed that water had a magical nature.Based on local geography, there are different beliefs and opinions about water in different cultural areas. Iran is one of these cultural areas, which covers various regions with different geographical properties. Fear of drought, is a considerable challenge in most of these areas. Therefore, various ceremonies were created such as water’s wedding, rain’s prayers and worship for the raining. Since, the important sections of cultural tourism of nations belongs to the cultural festivals, the author introduces the festivals of water in desert lands of Iran and at the same time expresses the role of these opportunities in promotion of the regional and international tourism

Keywords:

Desert , Reservoir , Qanat , Water Festival , Event Tourism