A boy held a symbolic clay bowl with earth brought from Artsakh

By Gayane Ohanyan

KARBI, Armenia —The Vahan Tekeyan School in Karbi, Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, celebrated the Golden Autumn festival on November 22.

Principal Zhanna Avetisyan and Deputy Principals Rita Aleksanyan and Vardanush Hovhannisyan organized the traditional “Golden Autumn” celebration.

Young participants in the Golden Autumn Festival

With the participation of teachers, parents and students, the day was meaningful with the display of the harvest and goods, which are the result of the hard work of the working people of Karabakh. Thanks to their efforts, they were turned into lavish tables and decorated in the schoolyard.

Bust of Vahan Tekeyan at the school

In the presence of Vahan Tekeyan’s statue (built by the financial assistance of the Tekeyan Cultural Association of US and Canada), junior, middle, and senior grade students with their parents entertained the audience with love, blessings and glorifying the fertile land.

Students of the Vahan Tekeyan School at the festival

Schoolchildren who moved from Artsakh and settled in the village and their parents also participated in the event, bringing with them Artsakh relics, vessels, specific dishes of Artsakh cuisine, including traditional jingalov bread.

The tables were full of fall harvest items

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Schoolchildren from Artsakh performed in their costumes, vocabulary, songs, and dances.

The tables were full of fall harvest items

The boy held a symbolic clay bowl with earth brought from Artsakh.

The schoolchildren welcomed the guests with bread and salt, joyful games, beautiful recitations and good humor, which confirmed the vitality of the Armenians.

Giving away autumn products and celebrating such a solemn event had become a tradition in the village of Karbi even in the pre-war period. It was celebrated with great solemnity every year in the month of November. This year it was dedicated to Karabakh.

As a result of the tragic events of war of 2020, the tradition was broken in Karbi for about three years due to six victims. However, thanks to the special will and creative spirit of the Armenian people, the Karbetsi rediscovered the challenge of living and creating, the right to be happy with the fruits of their own labor.

Young participants in the Golden Autumn Festival

May peace prevail in Armenia and may the spirit of the Armenians, being reborn, rise again like a phoenix.

At the end of the event, the schoolchildren bowed with flowers to the statue of Vahan Tekeyan, communicating with the thought of the great poet, listening to his whisper; What is the spirit, the spirit of the Armenian…

(Gayane Ohanyan is the director of Secondary Education at Tekeyan School in Karbi and a teacher of Armenian language and literature. This piece originally appeared in Sardarabad newspaper of Argentina.)

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