Barbecue Festival

Description

The annual pan-Armenian barbecue festival in Akhtala includes a number of cultural competitions-events dedicated to raising the popularity of Armenian cuisine and barbecue applications, as well as the complex development of gastro-tourism. The goals of the festival are deep and the organizers try to achieve the goals in a more targeted way every year and to convey the message of the festival to the public. The main massages of the festival are the followings:  1) To draw the public's attention to the fact that it is also interesting outside of Yerevan, 2) Contribute to the socio-economic development of the region, 3) Contribute to the promotion of the town brand, 4) Make the traditional methods of barbecue recognizable, 5) Create a festive mood, 6) Contribute to the balanced development of tourist areas, 7) Organizing entertainment for the festival participants, 8) Form participating teams, 9) Introduce ethnographic traditions.

Key message

The annual Pan-Armenian Barbecue Festival has been traditionally held in Akhtala since 2009 on the initiative and by the "Development and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions" NGO once a year. The town is distinguished by the originality of historical and cultural resources, which does not imply diversity only in terms of tourism, and as a result, tourists visiting the region have a desire to diversify their tourism offer, Armenian culinary traditions, gastro-tourism and complex development of the area.

Key activities

During the festival there are exhibitions-sales, culinary competitions in the categories of the best taste, the best idea and the best design, which are accompanied by national song and dance.

Key partners and supporters

The partners of the festival are Akhtala Municipality and Lori Marzpetaran, as well as "ECO.AM" LLC, Heinz, Dargett, Ijevan group companies.

Participants, local community and customer segment

Participants are representatives of various Armenian companies and restaurants, as well as individual chefs from different parts of Armenia and abroad. They are the Hatis team, The Taste of Shamlugh House, Near David, Aromas of the Caucasus, Arsen's Cuisine and others.

Communication and dissemination channels

Aiming to raise the popularity of the national cuisine to a world level, various food bloggers and TV representatives (Public TV, News, Yerkir Media, News am, Armenia today, Taste flavor blog, etc.) are invited to open the Festival, provide coverage and sustainable tourist flows. Details about the festival can also be found on the Facebook page of the Pan-Armenian Barbecue Festival:

https://m.facebook.com/631009040253187/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8qJaM76Eu0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suqRfrqKItA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsyOsr9D9Vk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9KcD9JTM5c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFlwXHHDK1w

Specific elements and features

Accessibility

The town of Akhtala is 186 km away from Yerevan, and 62 km away from the regional center Vanadzor. It is located north of the regional center, close to the Armenian-Georgian border.  More information on accessibility can be found at https://t-armenia.com/en/app.

Image Sources:
https://yerevancard.com/am/news/33
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/860124/
https://armeniasputnik.am/