Nine stories behind ArmeniaFest

EXPLORE ARMENIAN CULTURE

A pomegranate, a mountain, an alphabet, a carved stone, a dance, a plate of food, a floor full of birds, a saint, a wall of 1.5 million circles. Nine pages, each one the full story behind something you can see at the festival.

The western façade of St. Sarkis Armenian Church: a pale gray gable covered in fine engraved Armenian ornament beneath a conical dome and cross
St. Sarkis Armenian Church, Carrollton — where ArmeniaFest is held, and where several of these nine stories are carved, laid and built into the grounds.
Pick a subject

NINE PAGES TO READ

History, symbols, language and where each tradition comes from — written for curious readers of any age. Scanned a QR code in the Junior Explorer Guide? It brought you here.

01 Faith, Church & Tradition POMEGRANATE PATROL Նուռ · NOUR 365 seeds, one for every day of the year — a symbol of life, abundance and continuity, by tradition rather than by count. READ MORE → 02 Land & Legacy MOUNT ARARAT Մասիս · MASIS · THE SACRED MOUNTAIN The mountain tradition ties to Noah’s Ark — and the image Armenians everywhere read as survival and hope. READ MORE → 03 Living Culture WRITE YOUR NAME Հայոց այբուբեն · HAYOTS AYPUPEN Thirty-six letters created around 405 AD by Mesrob Mashdots — thirty-eight in Western Armenian today. READ MORE → 04 Land & Legacy STONE STORY Խաչքար · ARMENIA’S STONE CROSSES A cross-stone carved by hand in Armenia and carried to Dallas — flowers, knots and crosses, no two alike. READ MORE → 05 Living Culture TASTE THE MENU Համտեսէ՛ · HAMDESE Kebab, kufteh, boereg, paklava, lahmajun, soorj, choereg — recipes carried across generations and oceans. READ MORE → 06 Living Culture BIRDS OF THE MOSAIC Թռչուններ · TRCHOUNNER Birds hidden in the church hall floor — and the manuscript tradition of letters drawn as birds, trchnakir. READ MORE → 07 Living Culture KOCHARI Քոչարի · A DANCE BUILT FOR COMMUNITY A line anyone can join, danced to zurna and dhol — inscribed by UNESCO in 2017, with every region its own variation. READ MORE → 08 Faith, Church & Tradition ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR Սուրբ Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ · SOURP KRIKOR LOUSAVORICH Thirteen years in a pit, then the healing that led Armenia to become the world’s first Christian state, traditionally dated 301. READ MORE → 09 Faith, Church & Tradition THE MEMORIAL FAÇADE FAITH, MEMORY & 1.5 MILLION LIVES A cross that dissolves as you walk toward it — into 1.5 million unique circles, one for each life lost in 1915. READ MORE →
For kids at the festival

THESE NINE ARE ALSO THE JUNIOR EXPLORER GUIDE

The same nine subjects make up a free printed guide for kids at ArmeniaFest — a challenge to complete at each one, and a QR code on every page that leads back here to read more.