From August 1 to 5, Shoushi hosted the 5^th Pan-Armenian Recitation Festival, which was held on the sidelines of the “My Armenia” Pan-Armenian Festival organized by the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia. Student of the “Hayordats Tun” Armenian School of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Russia and New Nakhichevan in Moscow, Syuzanna Vanyan, won an award in the second category and received a precious gift from President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan, as reported the information center of “Hayordats Tun” to Hayern Aysor.

On August 1, among the 93 participants were four students of the “Hayordats Tun” Armenian School of Moscow, including Syuzanna Vanyan, Varsik Chrikyan, Eva Adamyan and Garnik Asatryan. They had rehearsed their poems with their teacher Alvina Hovhannisyan.

“There were much more participants this year. The title of the festival, “My Sacred Homeland” is very comprehensive. Every year, we organize the festival at a new level, and this is due to the experience that we keep gaining,” the festival’s coordinator Sargis Galstyan said in an interview.

The participants of the festival went sightseeing in Artsakh and grew to love Artsakh. On August 3, President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan honored the festival with his presence. The students of “Hayordats Tun” Armenian School were fFour of the few participants who had the chance to recite poems for the high-ranking guest. After listening to them, the President stated that the visit of young Diasporan Armenians to Shushi and their participation in the Pan-Armenian Recitation Festival is perceived as a gift to the struggling people of Artsakh.

The festival was held with the support of the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Education, Science of Sport of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The festival was sponsored by some Armenian American benefactors, and Alec Baghdasarian’s Avan Shushi Plaza covered the expenses for the participants’ stay.

On August 4, within the scope of the festival, the participants took part in the ceremony of consecration of the cross-stone “In memory of all Armenian saints and martyrs” in the yard of the St. Ghazanchetsots Church. The cross-stone was erected through the efforts of President of Art without Borders NGO Vahan Arsenyan and his friends and was consecrated by Primate of the Artsakh Diocese, Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, who also gave his blessing to the participants of the festival.

The grand closing ceremony of the festival was also held on the same day. During the ceremony, Syuzanna Vanyan received the certificates of honor of the RA Ministry of Diaspora and the NKR Ministry of Education, Science and Sports. Eva Adamyan, Varsik Chrikyan and Garnik Asatryan received certificates for their active participation. Vahan Arsenyan also granted certificates to Eva and Syuzanna for receiving the sympathy of the Art without Borders NGO.

When asked what the driving force for holding such festivals is, the festival’s direct sponsor Alec Baghdasarian said the following: “There was a goal to introduce Diasporan Armenian youth to each other and bring them to Artsakh. Alongside that, there was a love for recitation that served as an impetus to create a group comprised of art lovers and literary critics and establish the Pan-Armenian Recitation Festival.  During the festival, the youth established contacts and saw that they are similar to each other, and this provides them with the opportunity to make new friends, love Artsakh and return.”

The participants who didn’t win any awards also left as winners because they became familiar with the triumphant city of Shushi that their fathers had liberated, went sightseeing, received the blessing of Primate of the Artsakh Diocese, His Holiness Pargev, made new friends and started waiting for the next year with the hope to participate in the festival again.