English
Հայերեն
The first open-air Armenian festival took place at Kensington quarters, London. On June 12, 2011, Armenians and Armenian organizations in the UK presented their works and products: handmade items, dishes, paintings, books, their songs and dances through the 26 pavilions of the street festival.
The Diocese of the Armenian Church of London aims at coining a special day for the Armenians to celebrate as a day of Armenian identity and culture as well as to unite the Armenians of the community. The Iverna Gardens Street hosted a lot of Armenians and foreigners. The Armenian organizations presented at the event included "CAIA" center, "Advice and Information" company, AGBU, and many others. Luys Foundation was properly presented too due to the vigorous efforts of the students.
"The participation of the Luys Foundation in this festival was very important for it was the only representative from Armenia. It is practically impossible to achieve the recognition of the Armenian genocide or open the state borders without the significant role of the Armenian land. This fact is, however, oftentimes neglected. Luys activities aroused a large interest among the Armenians and the foreigners. The scope of the Luys activities are quite broad and young people are eager to have their contribution to the formation of the strong scientific Armenian community,"- said Hrant Shirakuni, head of the Armenian community at UCLU.
Baroness Caroline Cox implements the programs of her charity organization both in Armenia and
Artsakh.Over 500 visitors of the festival demonstrated the success of the initiative and served as a solid
guarantee to make it an annual event.
"The Armenian community in London is divided into several entities: this fact is really devastating for the community. Similar events are to help Armenians to overcome the existing boundaries and to unite them around such concepts as Armenian language, culture, history and most importantly the land of Armenia", says Hrant, one of the participants.
The President of the UCL Armenian Society Elen Gyulnazaryan informs that they are preparing a number of events in London. They collaborate with the “Hayashen” Armenian center, as well as take active part in various meetings; the most significant of them being the meeting with Nouritza Matossian, author of Arshile Gorky’s biography.
Artak Beglaryan, Luys student at UCL, tells about the evolving idea of all Armenian students in London to unite their activities under a joint organization.
