On July 8, the participants of the “My Armenia” Pan-Armenian Festival visited the Syunik and Vayots Dzor provinces.

First, Kuwait’s Shakeh, Akhalkalak’s Vachyan, Volgograd’s Artuyt, Krasnodar’s Armavir, Ukraine’s Armenia, Sochi’s Nairi, Pyatigorsk’s Ani, Rostov’s Arpi and Lipeck’s Krunk Dance Ensembles gave an open-air concert at the stadium in Sisyan.

For a moment, the members of the dance ensembles were like people in an audience as they watched the performances by members of Sisyan’s children’s center and Sisyan’s young singer Anush Aghajanyan.

Hundreds of citizens of Sisyan had rushed to the stadium to see the dances of the Diaspora Armenian dance ensembles. Mayor of Sisyan Aghasi Hakobjanyan was also watching the performances of the participants along with Head of the Department of Culture of the municipality Slavik Dadashyan and Director of the “My Armenia” Pan-Armenian Festival Samvel Haroyan.

The Diaspora Armenian youth’s touching and beautiful performances inspired the citizens, and they expressed their gratitude with not only screams and rounds of applause, but with beautiful bouquets as well. In the end, they performed a dance with the dance ensembles.

The beautiful concert ended, but the citizens of Sisyan didn’t rush home. They surrounded the participants near the buses and expressed their words of gratitude to the young Diaspora Armenians who were smiling and expressing gratitude in Armenian and foreign languages. There were also citizens who found their relatives among the participants and were more than happy.

The day ended with a visit to the Noravank monastic complex where even the rain didn’t stop the participants from touring the complex and dancing in the rain. They were wet, but their hearts were warm. The rain had especially motivated the girls from Kuwait’s Shakeh Dance Ensemble, who confessed that it’s rare to see rain in Kuwait, much less dancing in the rain.

The double rainbow that appeared after the rainfall was like a greeting from the homeland and an arch of triumph for the participants…

Lusine Abrahamyan

Sisyan-Noravank