Over 2000 People Attend Sheep Shearing Festival

On June 10 2017, the Syunik Animal Market hosted the 3rd Sheep Shearing Festival in Tatev community, Syunik region. The Festival was organized by the Strategic Development Agency NGO with co-funding from the Initiatives for Development of Armenia (IDeA) Foundation.

The goal of the Festival is to make people aware, and expand their knowledge, of the traditions, culture and local products of the Vayots Dzor and Syunik regions as well as foster the development of tourism in the region. In total, some 2,000 people took part in the festival.

“The Sheep Shearing Festival is becoming something of a tradition. It provides a chance to revitalize community life, recalls forgotten traditions and presents local products to tourists. It is great that more and more travel agencies are including the Festival in their offers. This shows how interest in the event is growing each year,” said Edgar Manukyan, CEO of IDeA Foundation.

This year, the Festival featured a sheep shearing contest, live folk music, dancing, tightrope walking, sports, and a fair allowing producers from the Vayots Dzor and Syunik regions to sell their products. The on-site food booths offered the Festival’s visitors the chance to taste traditional Armenian dishes.

“Since 2008, the Strategic Development Agency, with the financial support of the Government of Switzerland, has been implementing a livestock development program in Syunik, and since 2014 in the Vayots Dzor regions. The programme contains a number of events and activities aimed at developing the farmers’ knowledge and capabilities as well as improving the efficiency of pasture management. In this context, the Sheep Shearing Festival is important as it allows our beneficiary communities to present their products, communicate with each other and increase tourism in the region,” said Karina Harutyunyan, who heads the cattle breeding development programme at the Agency for Strategic Development.

The 2nd Sheep Shearing Festival was near the Halidzor Station of the “Wings of Tatev” cableway in 2015. Over 3,000 people, including tourists and guests from the U.S., Russia, Spain and Belgium attended the event.