Festivals

Within the STARMUS VI: 50 years on Mars, the most awe-inspiring science and art festival taking place in Armenia this fall, COAF is delighted to host a day of STARMUS at the COAF SMART Center in Lori on September 10, 2022.

STARMUS will bring together the most impressive world-class scientists and artists on the planet, and the COAF SMART Center will offer a unique blend of the event specials spiced with the breath of Lori’s enchanting nature.

STARMUS Day at SMART will feature:

scientific lectures on all things space,

live music performances of ≈10 bands/musicians from Armenia and abroad, including Dogma, Kalandra, etc.

stargazing to connect with our galactic neighbors,

thematic planetarium,

≈30 expos of various products made in Lori,

food court offering dishes from diverse cuisines.

“STARMUS DAY AT SMART” is organized within the “Lori, Your Next Destination” project, implemented jointly by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and COAF.

Inspired by the legacy of master storyteller and humanist, Hovhannes Tumanyan, and set in the iconic Debed Canyon where so many of his stories are based, this inaugural festival is to be the beginning of a new tradition – deeply rooted in place + history, with a vibrant, open, forward-looking edge and to re-ignite the cultural heritage and tradition of storytelling. Among the very mountains and canyons that inspired Hovhannes Tumanyan, will be celebrated all kinds of storytelling – traditional and modern, written, spoken, musical and visual.

By taking part in this inaugural event, you will help shape the culture of the festival and become a part of its origin story. In the spirit of firsts, our theme for this year’s festival is: Beginnings.
Register to attend: https://linktr.ee/tumanyanstoryfest

Launched in 2019, the Edible Plants in Armenian Cuisine festival is a celebration of Armenian culinary traditions and the role of foraged herbs in the local cuisine of the Lori province of Armenia. The festival takes place in the village of Dsegh and involves participants from different rural communities of Lori who treat the festival visitors to traditional dishes prepared with edible plants and herbs growing in the province. The festival program also includes cooking workshops, performances, music and dance shows, and traditional Armenian games.