“1000 Years of Village Square” Festival from August 26 to 27, 2017 (Video)

From August 26 to 27, 2017 at Zorakan village of Tavush region there took place the festival “1000 Years of Village Square”. This year the festival was organized for the second time. It was organized by an extremely active and caring young man of that village Hovhannes Karapetyan.

Zorakan is a border village. The majority of their populations are the inhabitants of Chardakhlu village, which is now in the territory of Azerbaijan. This is the reason why they want to rename the village Chardakhlu. As that village has given many famous heroes to the motherland, now the people, who have moved to Zorakan village in the territory of Armenia, want to keep their history unforgettable. In the village square, there are put the statues of Marshal Baghramyan and Marshal Babajanyan, who were born in Chardakhlu village.

At the opening of the festival, the Head of Tourism Department Mekhak Apresyan also delivered a short speech.

Then in the dialect of Chardaklu village there were presented the curses and blessings of that region.

Then they performed the song “luri-luri” and told its story, which of course amused the audience.

The opening ceremony ended with the traditional dance performance of the village children.

Then the audience visited different houses, where the friendly hosts presented different traditions. At first, they presented the cooking of “Zhangyalov hats” (bread with greens).

And they surely tasted it.

Then there was the distillation of peach vodka.

After that, they tasted it.

In another yard, there was the cooking of the traditional dishes khavits and korkot.

Then there followed the cleansing process of sheep wool.

There was baking of bread in the village bakery,

after which it was tasted with cheese.

After they boiled water in the Russian samovar

and enjoyed tea from different herbs.

Then they dined at the “Celebratory hall” of Zorakan village.

In the evening, they witnessed the process of honey squeezing.

On the next day, until 14:00 o’clock, the lovers of walking trips wandered in the wonderful wild nature of those places, of course accompanied with the locals. Those who preferred human contacts had pleasant talks in the hosting families. Relaxed and with wonderful impressions they returned to Yerevan in the evening.

Author: H. Muradyan

translated from Armenian into English by M.Vardanyan