Epress.am News from Armenia
The Karot (“nostalgia”) International Festival, which took place for the first time in Armenia, wrapped up yesterday. Originating from Russia, the festival’s aim is to communicate Armenian culture to those cut off from the homeland, to unite Armenians living and creating in the diaspora and also to introduce Armenia’s and the nation’s culture to foreigners.
Festival Director Medzo Igityan, summing up the festival today, considered it a success.
The festival program concluded yesterday in Movses village in Tavush marz (province), where a new church was opened. For more than 70 years, the village was without a church and thus, villagers were forced to go to the regional center, Berd, to celebrate their weddings and baptisms.
The festival’s greatest achievement, according to Igityan, was that it opened in Nagorno-Karabakh, and it wasn’t all that important that Azerbaijan had begun to complain that people from all over the world had come to Nagorno-Karabakh and many groups had presented their works. Igityan said that the location and time of the festival’s opening ceremony wasn’t randomly selected.
“We specifically had the festival’s opening day in Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] on Sept. 2, Artsakh’s Day of Independence. It was a call to all of humanity that already international festivals were taking place in a victorious country; it was also a signal to the world to stay away from wars, terrorism and to live in a peaceful, creative environment,” he said.
The location of the next Karot festival will become known in one month. The festival will visit Siberia in separate installments. During the visit of one of this year’s festival guests, Gerard Depardieu, an agreement was made that a Karot festival also be held in France.