Spirit of Vardavar Celebrated in Wiesbaden

This year, the Wiesbaden event took place on Sunday, July 14, in a large, open field and garden, hosted by Karen Gharslyan, chairman of the Wiesbaden Armenian community organization, Demokratisches Volks- und Kulturzentrum. The DVK, founded in 1976, is a social and cultural organization dedicated to promoting Armenian-German understanding and integration, in a spirit of peace, equality, and democracy. The center holds Saturday and Sunday school, with Armenian language classes for children, as well as cultural activities in theater, choral music, folk dancing, and sports. With support from the Diaspora office in Yerevan, it offers instruction free of charge.

A week earlier, the DVK had participated in the city’s 47th annual Intercultural Fair, with a prominent stand set up in the central square, the Castle Park. The event, which celebrates cultural diversity and promotes dialogue, is sponsored by the Office for Immigration and Integration. Members of numerous ethnic communities from Europe, east and west, as well as the Americas, Africa, and Asia, came with their traditional handcrafts and cuisine. Lines of visitors formed for hours at the Armenian stand, which offered shish-kebab on an open grill as its specialty.

About fifty people gathered in the sunny garden, families with children of all ages. After brief welcoming remarks from Gharslyan, the Armenian flag was raised atop a makeshift flagpole, and the crowd sang the national anthem. Most adults were equipped with buckets that they filled with water from huge barrels placed on the grounds. The children had brought their water pistols, which they aimed and fired to squeals of laughter. Some adults had larger weapons, loaded with water, and the fun began. Sharpshooters wielded their pistols, others unloaded their buckets, then reloaded, until all were drenched and happy.

The experienced celebrants had brought a fresh change of clothing, so once the water tanks were empty, the melee subsided, and soon the company reconvened in dry attire, ready to proceed to the next phase.

Shish-kebab, grilled vegetables, salads, and freshly baked lavash were in abundance, all prepared by the ladies of the community, who had also baked the baklava and other typical Armenian pastries.

As is customary at Vardavar celebrations, there was music and dancing, games for the children, and socializing for all. Among the participants were many families who had left their homes in Ukraine and found refuge in Germany.