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Vardavar festival in Armenia

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If you are a foreigner and you are planning to visit Armenia in summer then be ready for the situation when you walk along the street and a group of children or teenagers run to you and pour pails of water over you. This is the festival of Vardavar.

Yes, it may sound weird if you don’t know the meaning of this tradition.

So, where does it come from? Why do Armenians call it Vardavar and how they celebrate? All the answers are below.

Goddess Astghik

Vardavar’s history dates back to the pagan times. Armenians believed in many gods before adopting Christianity. Astghik was the goddess of water, beauty, love, and fertility. The celebrations of the religious observance of Astghik people named “Vartavar”. In Armenian vart (vard) means “rose” and var means “rise”. Astghik was pouring roses over the people spreading the love.

Though Armenians adopted Christianity they kept the tradition associating it with Jesus Christ. They celebrate it now as a holiday devoted to the event of Jesus Christ’s transfiguration when he appeared to his disciples on the Mount Tabor.

Noah

Some specialists relate the Vardavar to the Flood and Noah’s descent from the Ark. According to the tradition, when Noah finds his refuge on Mount Ararat during the Flood, he orders his sons to pour water over each other for the memory of the Flood.

In ancient times people were gathering the wheat-ears in the fields and took them to the church for a blessing to keep the fields away from damages.

The most important traditions of Vardavar was the ceremony of making doves fly. They were flying in the sky and admiring people.

July 8 Vardavar water festival, Yerevan facing Water Shortage.

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Vardavar water festival

YEREVAN — Armenia’s water provider has pledged to restore full supply in the nation’s capital, where residents have complained about water shortages amid a record heat wave that has hit the entire Caucasus region.

Veolia Djur, the Armenian unit of France-based Veolia, on July 6 said it would have water services restored by July 7 — which coincidentally is the eve of Vardavar, a religious festival in Armenia during which people traditionally pour water on each other in the streets.

The company, which provides maintenance of water and sewage services nationwide, reported major breakdowns in the system that forced it to disconnect entire Yerevan neighborhoods from the water supply for several hours.

The difficulties came as temperatures in Yerevan and the rest of Armenia in recent days hovered around 40 degrees Celsius, adding to residents’ discomfort.

The heat wave is shattering temperature records and causing power outages in the other Caucasus nations of Azerbaijan and Georgia and in Iran. Temperatures reached 53 degrees in Iran.

Gor Grigorian, operations director at Veolia Djur, said the water supply to the whole of Yerevan will be restored by July 7.

“Sometimes breakdowns require much time to repair. In this incidence, it coincided with hot weather, a breakdown of pumps, and a breakdown of the water main,” said Grigorian.

The French company in 2016 won a 15-year contract worth about 800 million euros to provide all drinking and wastewater services in Armenia.

Before winning the nationwide contract, the company provided similar services to Yerevan for more than 10 years, employing some 1,200 people in the capital.

Famous American director Darren Aronofsky to arrive in Armenia for Golden Apricot festival

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The 15th Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival will officially open on 8 July with the a special performance of Hover Chamber Choir, the director of the festival’s opening and closing ceremonies, Hrant Movsisyan told a news conference on Friday.

Raffi Movsisyan, a film critic of the festival, informed that apart from the main program, the festival will also feature exhibitions dedicated to the festival’s activities of the past 15 years. He says the event will bring world-famous filmmakers to Armenia, stressing inviting them to Armenia took many years of work.

American director, screenwriter and producer Darren Aronofsky will be the honorary guest at this year’s Golden Apricot, Movsisyan said.

“Within the framework of the festival, we will have the opportunity not only to meet the famous director, but also to watch three of his films – “Mother!”, “Black Swan” and “The Fountain”,” he added.

Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi will also arrive in Yerevan to attend the festival, with a master class by the director planned within the Golden Apricot.

The 15th edition of the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival will run till 15 July.

Armenian Festival in Watervliet promotes faith, culture

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Armenian Festival in Watervliet By Paul Post,

WATERVLIET, N.Y. >> Bill and Cathy Hedberg might not be connoisseurs, but they appreciate a tasty dish just the same.

They were among the hundreds of Capital Region residents who enjoyed a wide variety of delicious menu items, lively music and fun at the Armenian Festival on Saturday.

The event, at the St. Peter Armenian Apostolic Church at 100 Troy-Schenectady Rd., continues Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

“We’d give it five stars,” said Bill Hedberg, who tried a medley dinner consisting of three different kebobs — chicken, lamb and losh (ground beef and lamb). “It’s very tasty and lovingly prepared.”

“I had the lamb burger,” Cathy Hedberg said. “As you can see it’s gone. We also got the Sangria.”

The festival promotes the faith, culture and ethnicity of the Capital Region’s roughly 10,000 Armenian residents. Many of their ancestors began settling locally about 100 years ago, refugees of the Armenian Genocide, the Ottoman government’s systematic extermination of 1.5 million people beginning in 1915.

St. Peter, the largest Armenian church in the area, was founded in Green Island, in 1899, before moving to Troy and then Watervliet in 1971.

Festivals such as this are deeply rooted in Armenian history, the Rev. Stepanos Doudoukjian said.

“There are images that go back centuries,” he said. “There’s something innate in the Armenian people about doing picnics. Churches were always located on a hill. On Sunday afternoons, people would gather in the valleys for music, dance and grilling kebabs. It’s a way to say thank you to God for the gifts he’s given us. We enjoy being stewards of this great land he’s given us.”

Today’s congregation at St. Peter is keeping that legacy alive.

“They enjoy putting something like this on for the greater community,” Doudoukjian said.

Beef, lamb and chicken are extremely popular, so it’s no surprise that Armenians ran many of the Albany area’s leading meat markets during the early- and mid-20th century, he said.

“It’s one thing to sell meat,” he said. “They knew how to cut it.”

Green Island-based Reliable Brothers, founded in 1935, is a fourth generation firm still run by the Buchakjian family.

David and Marcia Dowen, of Green Island, also found plenty of good things to eat on Saturday such as jajik, a cucumber and yogurt dip.

“It’s fabulous,” Marcia Dowen said.

“We used the lemon-garlic sauce to dip pita bread in,” her husband said.

There’s plenty for children to do at the festival, also, as several bounce houses are set up for romping around in.

“I wish I had told my friends with kids,” Marcia Dowen said.

Beneath the grilling tent, men labored hard to keep a steady supply of meats coming for long lines of people waiting to make a purchase.

Lena Hoglund prepared an item called eech that’s new on the menu for vegetarians. The recipe was handed down to Hoglund by her mother and aunt. The dish is comprised of bulghur, a grain, that’s mixed with a combination of tomato sauce, spices, peppers, parsley and scallions.

“It’s a traditional Lenten vegan meal,” Hoglund said. “It’s one of my favorite meals to make. It’s refreshing and light, a great side salad.”

She attends the event each year.

“It brings awareness to the Armenian community in the Capital District,” she said. “There’s more than you would think.”

Serj Tankian looking to set up a music festival in Armenia

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Serj Tankian looking to set up a music festival in Armenia A year after Armenians launched a generous new peace prize, the frontman of rockers System of a Down sees more to come in the country — including perhaps a music festival, AFP said.

Serj Tankian, singer of the chart-topping California hard rock band, composed a theme song for the Aurora Prize, which was inaugurated a year ago in the Armenian capital Yerevan.

The award, backed by Hollywood A-lister George Clooney, is presented on behalf of Armenians who survived the bloodletting that claimed 1.5 million lives in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Armenia and Western historians describe the killings as genocide, but Turkey vehemently objects to the term.

The second edition of the award was presented on May 28 to Tom Catena, the sole doctor in Sudan’s conflict-ravaged Nuba Mountains who has cared for thousands of people, treating everything from war injuries to measles.

Catena, an American and Catholic missionary, will receive $100,000 plus an additional $1 million which will feed charities of his choice.

Tankian, who congratulated Catena in a video appearance at the ceremony as the band prepared for a European tour, said the Aurora Prize showed gratitude to those who helped survivors.

“Any group of people that have suffered immensely, whether it’s genocide or any other type of human-created catastrophe, should embody compassion and an understanding of that pain better than anyone else,” Tankian told AFP.

The Lebanese-born Tankian, whose grandparents survived with help from a Turkish mayor and an American missionary orphanage, said that too often, people fail to draw lessons from their ancestors’ pain.

“I find it really disheartening that there are people who have suffered immensely, or whose grandparents have suffered immensely, and yet their position in life has been unequivocally egotistical and myopic in terms of how they see their lives and how they spend their money,” he said.

– Integrating Armenia with music festivals –

Tankian said he wanted to do more in Armenia and was in the early stages of looking to set up a music festival.

The singer voiced hope that Armenia, rarely a destination for Western artists, could be integrated into the European summer festival circuit with touring bands carrying on to the Caucasus country.

“I’ve always dreamed of setting up an international music festival in Armenia,” he said.

“As much as I have tried to do political work and social work,” he said, “I would also like to carve out time to do art work, music work.”

For the centennial in 2015, System of a Down played its first-ever concert in Armenia. Tankian said he felt overcome with a sense of history, seeing young people and remembering his grandparents. He viewed his band as “part of that catalyst between old and new.”

“It felt like our whole career was built to play that one show in some ways,” he said.

Related links:

. In Armenia, a peace prize .. and a music festival?

UK: Armenian Street Festival 2017, Hosted by Armenian Street Festival London

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London Armenian festivalThe ASF creates a great opportunity for the Armenian Community and its friends to get together and do what Armenians do best, HAVE FUN.

With popular Armenian music, A concert by famous musical artists Sibil and Andre Simonian (Beautified Project), A classical concert by the London Armenian Opera and soloist Anaïs Heghoyan in the Church, The Circle of Life Dance coordinated by Shakeh Major-Tchilingirian, Plenty of traditional Armenian dancing by our one and only Akhtamar Armenian Performance Group and lots more to come. There are also Cultural artefacts, stalls selling varying gifts and books etc, drinks and FANTASTIC FOOD where the Square will be filled with joy from 12 until 7pm.

Primates office for further inquiries if you’d like to hire a stall or if you are interested in volunteering.

Sunday, July 16 at 12 PM – 7 PM UTC+01

 

Armenian Street Festival London
Iverna Gardens, W8 6TP London, United Kingdom

https://www.facebook.com/events/1386551931404075/?acontext=%7B%22action_history%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22messaging%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22attachment%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A%7B%7D%7D]%22%7D

Festival of Vigen Chaldranyan’s film series “Silence” to be held in Glendale

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The festival of prominent Armenian Director Vigen Chaldranyan’s film series entitled “Silence” will be screened at Glendale MGN Cinema House from February 20-24.

According to the report by Asbarez.com, one of the last films in the series full-length feature “The Silence of the Master” was presented in Los Angeles in May, 2016. The time the feature will be screened along with other works of the film-maker “Dzain Barbaroi”, “Symphony of Silence”.

According to the source all the revenue of the event will be donated to Hamazgayin State Theatre “Sos Sargsyan”.

To note, Chaldranyan, is the artistic director at Hamazgayin Theatre.

 

Source Panorama.am

Iraqi Kurdistan: Galawezh literary festival in Sulaimani spotlights Armenian genocide

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galawezh-festivalSULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Galawezh, a literary festival in the city of Sulaimani that has endured for two decades, is focusing this year’s edition on literature from the Armenian genocide under the Ottoman Empire.

The four-day festival, which ends Wednesday, has followed an annual tradition of focusing on the literature of a particular country, often with links to Kurdistan.
This year’s pick, Armenia, is a nation divided by language and culture but united in a common past of genocidal campaigns, mirroring the Kurds’ own recent history.
The Armenian Genocide of the 20th century led to the death of about 1.5 million people at the hands of the then Turkish Ottoman Empire.
The Kurdish Genocide, on the other hand, was committed at the hands of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, under his so-called Anfal campaign. At least 182,000 Kurds, notably in rural areas, were killed under the systematic military campaign to wipe out a whole nation.
Source: rudaw.com

Hollywood: ARPA International Film Festival Closes with a Bang!

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arpa-festivalBY SHARON SWAINSON,

The 19th Arpa International Film Festival (AIFF) concluded with its prestigious awards ceremony on November 6, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Cheers to Michael Ashjian, festival director and the whole Arpa team, for making sure that the four day film screenings, Q&As, special premiers, and first time behind the scenes of the upcoming film “The Promise” ran smoothly.

The night opened with a screening of Emmanuelle Osei-Kuffour’s thought-provoking short film, Born With It. The master of ceremonies and actress-producer, Heather McComb was delightfully vibrant and engaging throughout the entire ceremony. Comedians, Mary Basmadjian and Arman Oganesyan, had the audience laughing with their creative quips and storytelling. International singer and actress, Maria Elena Infantino, raised the roof with a riveting rendition of Edith Piaf’s song, “No, I have no regrets.”

Throughout the night, ten presenters graced the stage and announced the six film award winners and four special award honorees: Danny Buday (writer-director), Dr. Eric Esrailian (co-manager and lead producer for Survival Pictures), Karen Kondazian (actress and award-winning novelist), Victor Loyola (director of development at University of Guadalajara), Jelena Mrdja (Serbian actress), Mariana Novak (actress and voice-over talent), John Stahl (screenwriter and chair of CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts), Angus Sutherland (Vice President of Production and Development at Lotus Entertainment), Katherine Vallin (film generalist), and Basil Wallace (actor-director-writer).

AIFF 2016 Special Award Recipients:

Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to world renowned French film and television actor Dominique Pinon, by Vice President of Lotus Entertainment, Angus Sutherland.

Career Achievement Award was presented to composer, activist, and lead singer of System of the Down Serj Tankian, by Dr. Eric Esrailian, the co-manager and lead producer for Survival Pictures, and the producer of “The Promise.”

Breakthrough Artist Award was presented to director and choreographer Albert Kodagolian, by the most influential Goth rock band Bauhaus’ world renowned drummer Kevin Haskins.

Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award was presented to Emmy award winning director-producer of “Women of 1915,” Bared Maronian by Sylvia Minassian, Founder of Arpa International Film Festival and Dr. Zaven Khatchaturian, creator of Armin T. Wegner award.

A special certificate in recognition, from the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, was presented to all four award recipients and the producer of the documentary “Crows of the Desert,” Paul Turpanjian.

Arpa International Film Festival would like to give a special shout out of appreciation to the amazing DJ Dechard (aka Riccardo Di Benedetto) who added a fabulous touch to the VIP celebrations. Further, ArmAs Estate Wine received rave reviews throughout the entire weekend. Deservingly so, this Armenian wine is wonderful! There was quite a bit of chatter too about the Giantto watch sets that were presented on stage to the Lifetime, Career, and Breakthrough honorees.

The Arpa team also thanks Tacori, Giantto, Polanti, Siera, Astrologie of California, and Gintani for their continuous support.

Arpa International Film Festival organizers are proud to mention that the festival was selected as one of the top three Indie Film Festivals in the September issue of the Westways Magazine. This year’s festival once again hit the media internationally. Kimberly Jesika of Huffington Post reported in live on the red carpet saying “legends to lifetime achievers and up and coming walked the fabulous red carpet. The food was amazing; the flow of everything was smooth and beautiful. The festivities were one of the best places to be in Hollywood!”

Our 19th annual festival was a resounding success and the 20th is sure to exceed it! Be sure to keep an eye out for 20th Arpa IFF 2017 updates.

2016 ARPA International Film Festival Winners:

Best Feature Film

Train Driver’s Diary (2016) | Serbia | Director: Milos Radovic

Best Documentary

The Other Side of Home (2016) | U.S.A. | Director: Naré Mkrtchyan

Best Animated Short Film

Anna (2015) | France | Director: Alexia Rubod, Antoine Poyard, Jordann Jacobé, Alexis Choquard, Sophie Bracmard, Yunhan Liu

Best Short Film

ZAAR (2016) | USA | Director: Ibrahim Nada

Best Director

David Safarian, Hot Country, Cold Winter

Best Screenplay

Train Driver’s Diary (2016) | Serbia | Milos Radovic

Armenian premiere expected at Yerevan10th International Music Festival

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music-festival-yerevanUkrainian conductor Kirill Karabits will conduct the concert at Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall on September 18, Panorama.am learnt from Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert will be featured by soloists Daishin Kashimoto (violin) from Japan and Andriy Viytovych (viola).

The Armenian premier of Concerto for Orchestra No.2 by Ivan Karabits as well as other works will be performed in during the concert.

To remind, Yerevan 10th International Music Festival is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Armenia’s independence. The festival is held under the high patronage of the First Lady of Armenia Mrs. Rita Sargsyan and is supported by the Ministry of Culture.

The festival artistic directors are Alexander Chaushian and Eduard Topchjan.

 

Source Panorama.am