Some 300 million people around the world are starting their annual celebration of renewal and harmony with nature in what is to them the biggest cultural holiday of the year, typically involving 13 days of rituals.

Nowruz, also known as Persian New Year (Nowruz means “new day” in Persian), is celebrated across ethnic groups with a common Silk Roads heritage, including Iran Afghanistan and Tajikistan, as well as their diaspora in other countries.

The excitement for Nowruz was captured on Tuesday’s Google Doodle, which appeared on the site in more than a dozen countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The colorful scene, featuring animals playing instruments, was created by Iranian artist and Google Design Director Pendar Yousefi, who said the doodle draws inspiration from what he described as his “happy childhood memories of Nowruz.”

When is Nowruz?

Nowruz, which marks the first day of spring, is celebrated at the time—down to the second—of the vernal equinox, the point at which the sun is equally aligned over the Northern and Southern hemispheres, based on the earth’s rotation and tilt.

When exactly Nowruz begins thus varies across countries, depending on time zones. This year, it takes place at 26 seconds past 6.36 a.m., March 20, in Tehran, Iran (11:06 p.m., March 19, EDT). The United Nations declared March 21, when the vernal equinox usually occurs, to be the International Day of Norouz in a 2010 resolution.

How is Nowruz celebrated today?

People typically spend weeks preparing for Nowruz, mostly by spring cleaning. During the festival, family visits and communal meals are common, along with gift exchanges.

There are also ways of celebrating that differ by country. In Iran, every celebrating family puts together a haft-seen, a table of items with symbolic, auspicious meanings, which include dried fruit, apples, garlic, vinegar, and sprouts that can grow through the festival as a sign of rebirth. The sprouts, or Sabze, are typically released into running water in nature on the last day of Nowruz.