Sabzeruz Festival – Understand the History of the Genshin Impact Festival

In October, the world of Teyvat (and us players too) celebrated the birthday of our beloved short Archon, Nahida! The current Dendro Archon, also known as the Lesser Lord Kusanali, has a history marked by pain and hardship. By completing the main mission in Sumeru, we were finally able to put an end to this suffering. This year, 2024, her birthday is special, as it marks Nahida's first one spent in freedom after 500 years of imprisonment.

So, this year, you and the characters from the nation of Sumeru will organize a surprise birthday party for the Archon, as well as try to solve the mystery of an unknown item. For those who haven't followed the story (or aren’t very fond of reading the dialogue), let's explain the origins of the Sabzeruz Festival.

It's worth the warning: the article contains SPOILERS for the Archon's Mission. If you haven't yet explored the nation of Sumeru, we encourage you to come back later.

According to the legend, a celebratory banquet was once held for the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's birthday by her friends, the Desert King, Deshret, and the Goddess of Flowers, Nabu Malikata.

Some of the gods at the banquet drank too much, King Deshret began to play music on his lyre, and Rukkhadevata began to sing. Excited by the music, the Goddess of Flowers started to dance, and Padisarahs (a flower typical of the Sumeru region) bloomed wherever she stepped. This banquet is said to be the origin of the Sabzeruz Festival.

Another legend tells that for the first Sabzeruz Festival, King Deshret and Nabu Malikata planned to celebrate the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's birthday secretly. They invited her to the banquet by placing a trail of sweets in her path, and upon her arrival, King Deshret was plucking the strings of an instrument while Goddess Malikata performed a beautiful dance to welcome her.

As gifts, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata received the Khvarena, a source of accumulated energy containing great wisdom, from the Goddess of Flowers Malikata, and a mystical jewel, the Wedjat Eye, from the Desert King Deshret.

After we complete the Archon's mission, and the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata has her existence erased from Irmansul, the tree which contains and records the entire history of the world of Teyvat, the Festival of Sabzeruz was considered as the day in which the Sages of Sumeru Academy found the Lesser Lord Kusanali and took her to the Sanctuary of Surasthana, where she lives.

Since the death of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, the higher-ups at Sumeru Academy have stopped organizing the festival.

For Dunyarzad, one of the NPCs we meet during the mission and a faithful devotee of Nahida, the reason for the ban is that they see the birth of the Lesser Lord Kusanali as a symbol of Rukkhadevata's definitive death, something they did not accept, since the former Archon was the patron of several innovations and of knowledge, both highly valued by the Sages.

For years, the Academy heavily marginalized the festival, refusing to fund it and treating it almost as if it didn’t exist, claiming that festivities, performances, dances and celebrations distracted and hindered people from seeking true knowledge through study and sciences.

When we arrive in Sumeru, the Academy makes every effort to completely stop the performance of the Dance of Sabzeruz, the most important event of the festival, organized by Nilou and the Zubayr Theater Troupe. It's up to us, of course, to help Nahida and reestablish the Festival (among other things that happen there).

Following the rescue of the Lesser Lord Kusanali and her reestablishment as Dendro Archon of Sumeru, the Sabzeruz Festival restores its prestige and support. The Sages of the Academy are also willing to be part of organizing a grand birthday celebration for the goddess Nahida, as part of their efforts to correct their past behavior.

The Sabzeruz Festival has many traditions associated with it, including the Haft-Mewa Banquet, where people set their tables with seven different foods. Many typical dishes and sweets are served.

Farris, the Knight of Flowers, is a popular figure among children as he hands out sweets during the Festival. The most important part of the festival is the Dance of Sabzeruz, based on the dance of the Goddess of Flowers, performed by Nilou.

Another tradition is The Parade of the Flower Carriage, when the Archon rides through the city in a decorated carriage, escorted by the Knight of Flowers. Sweets are thrown up in the air for the Archon, and they rain over the Chariot's passage through the event.

As a curiosity: Sabzeruz is the combination of two words in Persian. Sabze e Ruz, which can be translated as "Day of the Grass" and Haft-Mewa, is the name of a type of jam made with seven types of dried fruits and nuts served at an Iranian festival called Nowruz.

Just like other events that take place annually in the game, such as the Lantern Rite Festival in Liyue and the Windblume Festival in Mondstadt, the Sabzeruz Festival is an opportunity for us to earn many primogems and items. This year, in addition to wishes, mora and other prizes, we can get a 4-Star character, Cadance, for free.

The activities carried out at the festival can vary from year to year, so we won't focus on how you should go through each of them, but, overall, they are all quite simple and tend to be repeated in different game events throughout the year, with little to no variation. We always have two to four different activities, which will be divided into puzzles, races against time and a combat activity.

For example, one of this year's activities involves guiding the Flower Carriage along a path and collecting as many flowers as possible while avoiding obstacles. In another one, you enter NPCs’ dreams and must find things that are wrong, such as floating or inverted objects. The last activity consists of simply defeating as many enemies as possible within the given time using either your characters or some that the game “lends” to you.

These events have some special conditions which can help or hinder you during the available time, but it's nothing that’ll make you lose your mind, in addition, they can be done as many times as you want during the Festival (in general, they are available for 15 to 30 days), so you have plenty of time to get all the rewards.

Now, it’s your turn to tell us: What did you think of this year's Sabzeruz Festival? Did you enjoy the activities? Did you get all the primogems the event offers, or did you have difficulty completing any of them? Leave a comment and let's chat!