Most Iranian families abroad celebrate Yalda night 2026 on the weekend of Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December. Yalda marks the longest night of the year, and it is the one night many families abroad make sure to spend together. If yours ends up in front of the TV, Ktime has the Iranian comedies, family films, long series and Persian live channels that suit a room of every age, all in Persian and all streaming today without a VPN. Open ktime.app/app in a browser or the app on an Android TV, Fire TV or Google TV.
| Yalda night 2026, abroad | The weekend of Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December |
| Comedy for adults | Marmoolak (2004), The Tenants (1987), Mum’s Guest (2004) |
| A series for the long night | Shabhaye Barareh, Pavarchin, Khane Be Doosh, My Uncle Napoleon, Noon Kh (season five, 2024) |
| For the whole family | Children of Heaven (1997) |
| For the children | Kolah Ghermezi and Pesar Khaleh (1994), Kolah Ghermezi, Dirin Dirin, The City of Mice |
| Live TV in the background | GEM TV, Persiana Family, AVA Family; Radio Javan TV, PMC; Persiana Junior, GEM Kids |
| The full list | Every Iranian film and series for Yalda night on Ktime, rebuilt daily |
| Price | US$7.49, CA$9.99 or €6.49 a month, no VPN |
When is Yalda night in 2026?
Most Iranian families outside Iran celebrate Yalda 2026 on the weekend of Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December, the weekend before the longest night, when everyone can stay up late. The traditional date is the night of 30 Azar 1405 on the Iranian calendar, which this year falls on Monday 21 December: the last night of autumn, ending at sunrise on 1 Dey, the first day of winter. Its Gregorian date shifts a little from year to year because the Iranian calendar follows the sun.
Families stay up past midnight with pomegranates, watermelon, nuts and dried fruit, and someone reads from Hafez. UNESCO added Yaldā/Chella to its list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2022, nominated jointly by Iran and Afghanistan. Wikipedia’s Yalda article covers the history. Plan the evening for whichever night your family picks; everything in this guide plays on Ktime that night.
Which Iranian comedies work for a Yalda night crowd?
Marmoolak (مارمولک, 2004), Kamal Tabrizi’s comedy about an escaped prisoner who passes himself off as a cleric, is the one most families can quote; Parviz Parastui plays the lead. Marmoolak is on Ktime in Persian.
Dariush Mehrjui made two of the gentlest comedies in Iranian cinema. The Tenants (اجارهنشینها, 1987) follows the quarrelling residents of a crumbling apartment building, and Mum’s Guest (مهمان مامان, 2004) is about a household of modest means scrambling to put on a proper dinner for visiting relatives, which is a Yalda evening in miniature.
For more of the same shelf, our guide to Iranian comedies and the Iranian comedy films collection go deeper. As of 14 November 2026, Ktime carries more than 600 Iranian comedies.
Which Iranian series can we binge until morning?
A long night suits a long series. The newest is the fifth season of Noon Kh (نون خ, 2024), Saeid Aghakhani’s village comedy; the fourth season (2023) is on Ktime too.
For something everyone already knows, Mehran Modiri’s Shabhaye Barareh (شبهای برره, 2005), set in the made-up village of Barareh, and his earlier Pavarchin (پاورچین, 2002) both run to dozens of episodes. Reza Attaran’s Khane Be Doosh (خانه به دوش, 2005) is the other sitcom of that decade families return to.
For the grandparents, My Uncle Napoleon (دایی جان ناپلئون, 1976), Naser Taghvai’s series of Iraj Pezeshkzad’s novel, is the classic. Our list of the best Iranian series to binge has more.
What can the whole family watch together?
Majid Majidi’s Children of Heaven (بچههای آسمان, 1997) is the safest single choice for a mixed room: a brother and sister share one pair of shoes, and the whole story is told at a child’s eye level. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the first Iranian film to be nominated.
The Iranian family films collection lists the rest, newest first, and the Yalda list puts the family films, comedies and series on one page, with year, genre and the episodes Ktime holds for each series.
What should the children watch on Yalda?
Kolah Ghermezi is the children’s character most Iranian parents grew up with. The 1994 film Kolah Ghermezi and Pesar Khaleh (کلاه قرمزی و پسرخاله) by Iraj Tahmasb is the classic, and the Kolah Ghermezi TV episodes are on Ktime too. The animated comedy Dirin Dirin (دیرین دیرین) and the puppet film The City of Mice (شهر موشها) round out the evening.
For a young child, turn on Kids mode first: a four-digit PIN keeps the app on kid-safe rows until you switch it off. Our guide to Persian shows for kids covers the dubbed cartoons too.
Which Persian live channels can we leave on in the background?
Ktime carries 4,000+ live channels, and as of 14 November 2026 these Persian ones were playing:
- Family and entertainment: GEM TV, GEM Series, Persiana Family, Persiana Comedy, Persiana Iranian, Persiana Nostalgia, AVA Family
- Music for the room: Radio Javan TV, PMC HD, Navahang TV
- For the children: Persiana Junior, GEM Junior, GEM Kids
Every channel sets its own Yalda schedule. If it airs a Yalda special, that special plays on its normal live stream on Ktime, in the same app as the films. Our guide to Persian live TV online explains how the channel grid works.
How do we watch on the TV in the living room?
Install the Ktime app on an Android TV, Fire TV or Google TV, sign in once, and the remote is all anyone needs for the rest of the night. Any browser at ktime.app/app plays the same library on a laptop or phone, and the Roku app is in the Roku Channel Store. A plan is US$7.49, CA$9.99 or €6.49 a month, and you can cancel anytime. For grandparents who would rather not set anything up, the pre-configured Ktime device sold at Iranian shops in the Greater Toronto Area arrives ready to plug in.