The vernal equinox took place two weeks ago, heralding the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, despite continued wintry conditions in a few places. As the sunlight becomes more prevalent, people, plants, and animals are beginning to emerge from their winter modes to step outside, bloom, and otherwise welcome the sunshine. These photos show festivals and glimpses of the new season from around the world, as we shake off the winter and greet the spring.
Signs of Spring
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Hillsides and pastures, covered in a carpet of wildflowers, are drawing thousands of visitors this spring to Carrizo Plain, home to thousands of migratory birds and the largest alkali wetlands in the state, on March 28, 2017, in Carrizo Plain National Monument, California. The valley is experiencing an epic wildflower "superbloom" of golden fields, tidy tips, tickweed, fiddleheads, lupine, and hillside daisies. #
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Chias and California poppies, which will remain closed until warmed by direct sunlight, bloom after prolonged record drought gave way to heavy winter rains, causing one of the biggest wildflower blooms in years on March 16, 2017, at Diamond Valley Lake, near Hemet, California. #
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People walk among flowers after prolonged record drought gave way to heavy winter rains, causing one of the biggest wildflower blooms in years on March 16, 2017, at Diamond Valley Lake, California. #
David McNew / Getty -
People walk along the Tidal Basin, visiting of what is left of the cherry blossoms in Washington on April 2, 2017. This year's bloom was different from in the past because cold weather killed half of the blossoms on the Yoshino cherry trees just as they were reaching their peak. #
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Visitors walk among the poppy bloom at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in Lancaster, California, on March 19, 2017. Rain-fed wildflowers have been sprouting from California's desert sands after lying dormant for years, producing a spectacular display that has been drawing record crowds and traffic jams to desert towns. #
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Iraqi Kurds watch as fireworks light the sky in the town of Akra, 500 kilometers north of Baghdad, on March 20, 2017, during the Noruz spring festival celebrations. The Persian New Year is an ancient Zoroastrian tradition celebrated by Iranians and Kurds that coincides with the vernal (spring) equinox, and is calculated by the solar calendar. #
Safin Hamed / AFP / Getty -
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Ewes and lambs on Gwndwnwal Farm during lambing season on March 2, 2017, in Brecon, Wales. Gwndwnwal Farm is a family-run livestock farm in Brecon, South East Wales. The Brute Family are expecting to lamb 600 ewes this season producing more than 1,000 young. #
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A family celebrating the spring equinox raises their hands toward the sun atop the Pyramid of the Sun at the Teotihuacan archaeological site in Mexico, on March 21, 2017. #
Rebecca Blackwell / AP
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