Ecotourism, paintball, jeep tours, song and dance: Artsakh invites to attend Zhingyalov Hats festival 

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. For already the second year the Zhingyalov hats festivalis being held in Haterk village of Artsakh gathering tourists from various countries.

On that day the world’s largest Zhingyalov hats [a type offlatbreadstuffed with finely dicedherbsand green vegetables], more than 3 meters long, will be baked with the goal to be registered in the Guinness World Records.

“In order to attract a lot of visitors we plan to present unprecedented and attractive offers. For instance, some part of the cost of the transport which will serve the guests will be compensated by the sponsors and the prices will be quite affordable”, organizer of the festival Samvel Mirzakhanyan said.

The festival is organized by the Ecotourism in Artsakh initiative group with the support of Artsakh’s ministry of culture, youth affairs and tourism and the administration of the Martekart region.

“We plan to contribute to the development of ecotourism in Artsakh, ensure great flow of tourists, raise awareness on the community and take the community on the path of proportional development by using the ecotourism potential. A number of leisure and cultural events will be held during the festival”, he said, adding that these events include paintball, jeep tours and visits to beautiful sites in Artsakh.

The festival will be accompanied with live music, singers from Armenia and Artsakh will perform.

“There will be more than 100 pavilions, and the Zhingyalov hats will be baked in nearly 90 of these pavilions. The visitors will have an opportunity to watch the whole process of making the bread. Other national dishes will also be made”, Mirzakhanyan said.

In response to ARMENPRESS question how many guests are expected to attend the festival and especially from which countries, the organizer said they plan to host 12-15.000 visitors both from Armenia and different European countries.

“Last year the scales of the event were smaller, there were nearly 3500 visitors and the number of pavilions was just 15. But this year their number reaches over 100. We expect that President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan, as well as President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian will attend the festival”, he said, adding that there will be tourists mainly from Russia, Czech Republic, France, US and Canada.

He informed that representatives of various international organizations, as well as ministers are invited to attend the festival.

The festival will open on May 11, at 12:00.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan