The cultural Week of Haghartsin (Haghartsin Week) is an annual event aimed to showcase Haghartsin Monastery’s (X-XII AD) rich spiritual legacy and its special role in Armenian history and culture.
The Haghartsin Week is a 7-day-and-night long celebration that takes place in the premises of the Haghartsin monastery and includes a series of cultural, educational and entertaining events. Some examples are open-air master classes on national arts, traditional bread-baking, sweet-making and local food-cooking demonstrations, national Armenian dance lessons, spiritual music concerts. To enhance visitors’ spiritual experiences the week is accompanied by church services, liturgies and Bible studies.
For a week the Haghartsin Monastery becomes a living city where everyone is welcome to be a part of a big family.
The week usually starts with an opening ceremony around the St. Mary’s historical relief sculpture of Haghartsin. The ceremony continues with a concert by the Armenian State Chamber Choir, artistic director – Robert Mlqeyan.
For the rest of the week, the day starts with a worship, and continues with masterclasses: pottery, carpet making, and organic soap-making, cross stone carving workshop, iconography, silk painting or kitchen: local food making demonstrations and tasting: milk bread, nazuk, rosehip, cornel soups, jams, honey, and Armenian folk dance lessons.
Then there are events such as “The Light of the Land Tavush”: ecotourism development perspectives/, cross stone carving workshop, iconography, silk painting – the works of the children of “Bridge of Hope” NGO, “Arevik” social-educational center, and Puppet show: “Family and community” NGO’s “Palancho” puppet theatre, Fresco film festival.
The masterclasses or events are followed by concerts by the State Jazz Orchestra of Armenia, artistic director – Armen Hyusnunts; Little Singers of Armenia, artistic director – Tigran Heqeqyan; Berd St. Hovhannes Church’s Children Choir; “Tavush Children Choir”; Geghard Vocal Ensemble; Luys Vocal Quintet.
The day is concluded by an evening worship or a Divine Liturgy by Fr. Shavarsh Simonyan.
The week is concluded on Sunday, by a Divine Liturgy by Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Primate of Tavush Diocese Closing of the Haghartsin Week.
