From August 1 to 5, 2016, Shushi will host the fifth annual Pan-Armenian Recitation Festival,  which will be held as part of the Third “My Armenia” Pan-Armenian Festival and is organized by Avan Shushi Plaza Hotel and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The grand opening ceremony is set to take place on August 2, as reported Hayern Aysor.

The previous festival gathered 90 schoolchildren from 8 countries, including Armenia, Artsakh, Iran, Georgia (Javakhk), Lebanon, Ukraine, Belarus and the United States of America.

Due to the success, this year the organizing committee has expanded the scope of the festival and has sent invitations to schoolchildren from Canada and Russia as well.

The festival is open to 6-18 schoolchildren in three age groups (according to an initial agreement). The selection of the participants is up to the countries.

Age groups:

• 4^th, 5^th, 6^th and 7^th graders (9, 10, 11 and 12 years old)
• 8^th and 9^th graders (13 and 14 years old)
• 10^th, 11^th and 12^th graders (15 and over)

Participating countries: Armenia, Artsakh, Georgia (Javakhk), Lebanon, Iran, USA, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Canada

Organizers:

• NKR Ministry of Education, Science and Sport
• Gurgen Melikyan, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Yerevan State University
• Artsrun Avagyan, Dean of the Faculty of Philology at Yerevan State University, Chair of Organizing Committee
• Samvel Muradyan, Head of the Chair of Armenian Literature at Yerevan State University

The festival will include visits to sites worth seeing in Artsakh, the Museum of Deceased Freedom Fighters, Saint Ghazanchetsots Church, Gandzasar Monastery and Kanach Zham (Green Hour) Church, Tigranakert, Hunot Gorge, Tatev Monastery and Karahunj. There will also be celebrations in the evenings.

For questions, call at (+374) 477 3-15-99, or send an e-mail to avanshushi@hotmail.com (coordinator-Sargis Galstyan).

We look forward to seeing you at the festival. Let us love poetry more.