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Armenian Fest marks its 8th anniversary

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  • Armenian Fest marks its 8th anniversary

    Armenian Fest marks its 8th anniversary
    By KEITH J. O'CONNOR, Staff writer

    The Republican, MA
    Sept 2 2004

    Thursday, September 02, 2004

    While various towns held "taste" events this summer to sample the
    "tasty" fare from area restaurants, it's the Armenian community
    now inviting the public to enjoy a fun day of traditional foods and
    dancing with them at their eighth annual Armenian Fest Sunday.

    "It's a time to share our common, everyday foods and our traditions
    among ourselves and with other communities," said Eleanor Demirjian
    of St. Mark Women's Guild.

    "And it's a time to have fun and see friends you only see on occasion
    and to catch up on what has been happening with them," she added.

    The event, noon-6 p.m., will be held on the grounds of St. Mark
    Armenian Church at 2427 Wilbraham Road, Springfield.

    According to parishioner Hagop "Jack" Boyajian, the festival began
    eight years ago as a picnic "in the confines of the church hall,"
    but soon outgrew its quarters indoors.

    "The festival is multipurpose in addition to bringing people together,"
    Boyajian said.

    "It also serves to sustain the basic needs of the parish such
    as meeting gas and electric charges, as well as raising money to
    provide charitable funds, such as when we helped those impacted by
    an earthquake in Armenia," he added.

    Admission to the festival is free, but money is raised through the
    sale of food and other items.

    This year's menu will include hot shish kebab, chicken kebab, and
    losh kebab, which is beef and lamb with spices, priced at $10 to $12.

    "The dinners come with rice pilaf, salad and bread," Demirjian said.

    Members of the St. Mark Women's Guild have been cooking around the
    clock to stock a bake table where diners can enjoy an appetizer or
    dessert "on the spot" or order some to take home. Among Armenian
    delicacies for sale will be flaky turnovers called cheese boreg,
    spanakopita or spinach boreg, string cheese and boorma, a flaky pastry
    with sugar syrup. There will also be a sweet bread called choreg,
    stuffed grape leaves and butter cookies.

    "Paklava, which is the same as baklava, is a layered filo dough with
    nuts, cinnamon, honey and sugar, and is the king of our pastries,"
    Demirjian said.

    "Our queen of pastries is the boorma, a flaky dough that is a lighter
    version of our paklava, with the same ingredients and a nice light
    sugary sauce," she added.

    Frozen lahmejune, or flat meat pies, will also be available for sale
    to take home by the dozen, Demirjian noted.

    "These are flat, like a pizza but with no cheese, and a meat topping
    along with spices, peppers, onions and other vegetables," she said.

    To add to the festivities, live music to sit back and tap your toes
    or to get up on your feet and dance, will be provided by Hye Echoes.

    Visitors can even do a little shopping at this year's fest where a
    "country store" has been set up to sell cracker bread, grains, dried
    flowers, a yogurt drink called tahn, Armenian coffee and more.

    For those feeling lucky, Anita Assarian will have some fun predicting
    fortunes as she reads the future from coffee residue left in a cup
    after drinking.

    This year's Armenian Fest will also feature live cooking and dancing
    demonstrations.

    "We are currently preparing a video cookbook for sale and will be
    running a sample of it near the bake table showing the preparations
    for several of the baked items we will be selling," Demirjian said .

    To keep the kids entertained, there will be games and a bounce house.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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