This year, the Sheep Shearing Festival took place at the Syunik Animal Market, situated on the way to the Tatev Monastery. Entering the area, the guests felt the smell of the Armenian BBQ, called “khorovats”, which is typical to make during almost every gathering at the countryside in Armenia. Passing by the BBQs, people were welcomed by the special team of the festival’s organizers, later followed by stands of various traditional product producers, be it farmers selling their organic crops, housewives sharing traditional homemade foods, local companies presenting their products, and many others just welcoming the guests with warm hearts.

Out of many pleasingly surprised visitors, Annie Serobiants, 27, says, “Being away from Armenia for 12 years, then coming back to visit my homeland, I really appreciate such events. Tasting all these foods, meeting all these nice people took me back to my childhood for a good moment.”

Uniting all the elements of the festival, the central event was the competition between experienced farmers in sheep shearing skills. The first stage of the process was the random selection of sheep and its shearer. An expert group of judges was paying close attention to every detail, in order to determine the true winner. One of the judges, Hovik Avagyan says, “Even the way of holding the scissors plays a big role. Shearers need to be productive, so that no wasted wool is left on the sheep, do the job with a good technique not damaging the animal, and after all not to forget about the time spent.”

 As the competition starts, the shearers get their hands on the sheep assigned to them, masterfully freeing the animals from their thick blankets. The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Ashot Harutyunyan, who was also attending the event, not as a jury, but as an observer, also shows enthusiasm towards the competition, “The times have changed, now we have all sorts of new technologies for faster shearing, nevertheless, we do not forget our traditions, our ancestors.”

The festival reaches its second stage and people are gathering near the big stage, where the winner of the competition is going to be announced. Kirakosyan Pavlik from Tchambarak community, which interestingly enough is not in the Syunik region, drives a long way to participate in the competition and wins the honorable first place. Receiving the award Pavlik says, “I am shearing sheep for already ten years, still I have to further develop and master my skills.” A huge wave of applause comes from the crowds, congratulating the winner.

Sheep Shearing 2017 organized by the Strategic Development Agency NGO, co-funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and IDeA Foundation brings joy and excitement to the region every year, and 2017 was no exception.