"The Magic of Lavash" Festival in Arevik Community, Armenia
On the initiative of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia and “Ardini” Educational, Cultural and Tourism Development Foundation, “The Magic of Lavash” festival will take place in the Arevik community of Shirak region of Armenia on September 23, 2023. lt is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
ln the Soviet period, the Arevik village was famous for its bakers and lavash baking traditions, which have been almost lost in the last 20 years. People honored the village and called it Lavashgrad, which means “the capital of lavash”.
The main purpose of the festival is to revive the settlement that was famous for its bakers and lavash during the Soviet era, to restore the traditional ways of baking lavash and to discover a new direction of gastro tourism in the region.
Various events will take place du ring the festival, including a demonstration of dishes prepared with lavash and the process of baking lavash in the oven, a lavash-themed theater performance, traditional games and a pottery master class. As for children, there will be outdoor painting and entertaining performances.
The implementation of the “Magic of Lavash” festival is very important because of the nomination of Armenia “Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia” inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO in 2014.