DIOCESE OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

ԱՌԱՋՆՈՐԴՈՒԹԻՒՆ.ՀԱՅՈՑ.ՄԵԾՆ.ԲՐԻԴԱՆԻՈՅ.ԵՒ.ԻՐԼԱՆՏԱՅԻ DIOCESE OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND Տ. Վահան.Եպս..Յովհաննէսեան,.Հայրապետական.Պատուիրակ.եւ.Առաջնորդ The Right Revd Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate and Pontifical Legate

Special Issues, Vol. 5 2 August, 2014

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4TH ARMENIAN STREET FESTIVAL, LONDON

 Date: Tomorrow, Sunday, 3 August, 2014  Time: 12:00-18:00  Morning Badarak at:10:30AM  Procession from the Church to the Festival at 12:15  Cutting of Ribbon Ceremony at 1:00PM

 Drawing of Raffle Prices at 17:00  Food served anytime during the Festival  Ample seating area under marquees and in Church Hall.  Live Entertainment, Circle Dancing and Church  Backgammon Tournament  Children’s games and face-painting

ANTASDAN: CHURCH PROCESSION TO COMMENCE FESTIVAL

A procession from the back entrance of the Church to Iverna Gardens will conclude the celebration of the Badarak and will usher in the celebrations of the Fourth Annual Armenian Street Festival. This medieval Armenian Church service was designed as an expression of thanksgiving to God for His creation of the earth and our environment. Through the service, the clergy turn around in a circle facing the four directions, East, North, West and South and blessings parts of the earth in these directions. The service is preceded by a procession from the back Entrance of the Church which is scheduled to start at 12:15. All are welcome to join the procession by walking behind the clergy. Please leave the area on Iverna Gardens Street, in front of the stage, empty so the clergy can offer the service following the procession in that area. Because of the 2014 Armenian Street Festival, Sunday Church services are scheduled to start a bit earlier. Badarak will commence at 10:30. All are welcome.

Sponsored by the Armenian Church Trust UK

YOUR COPY OF THE FESTIVAL 2014 BOOKLET

A special booklet has been published on the occasion of the fourth annual Armenian Street Festival (ASF). The booklet includes: a floor map of the festival grounds; food and drink menu; entertainment programme, Raffle prizes, list of stall holders, location of events such as the street dancing, stage singing, concert and other events and activities. The booklet contains documents such as the welcoming remarks of His Grace Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate, “Armenians: Who We Are” and the “To...” list. The booklet also includes the names of the benefactors, individuals and organisation, who supported the Festival financially as well as those who sponsored a space in the booklet with their greetings and best wishes. The Festival Booklet is distributed free of charge at the Welcome Desk to all the guests of the Festival. Please make sure to approach the Welcome Desk and pick up your copy of the Booklet of the Festival prior to your experience of the Festival. Click here to download an electronic copy of the Booklet.

MAKE SURE TO PURCHASE YOUR FESTIVAL FOOD COUPONS (FC)

Special coupons have been published to be used for buying foods and drinks at the Festival. Please note that cash will not be accepted at the Food Court and the food and drink distribution stands. In order to minimize the load on the payment queues, there will be six Points of Sale (POS) where you can purchase your Food Coupons (FC), worth £1, £2, and £6. Two POSs are stationed at the Entrance of the Festival next to the Welcome Desk. Two more POSs are at the front gate of the church, near the Bar and the Gift Shop stalls. Two more POSs will be floating around the Festival grounds. The POSs can be identified by the “Stewart” orange shirts they will be wearing. Please carefully read the food menu, published in the Festival Booklet and purchase the matching Food Coupons. Kindly note that Food Coupons are not reimbursable. Finally, a queue will be formed at the entrance to the food distribution section, to the right of the Hall, behind the church building. Make sure to have your Food Coupons with you before joining this queue. Bon appétit.

CHANGES: BADARAK SCHEDULE AND PARKING

The Iverna Garden Street will be blocked throughout the duration of the Festival. Consequently, park is SUSPENDED on the L-shaped street in front of the Church building. In order to prepare for the Festival, access to Iverna Court Street will also be blocked to allow the Festival Committee stall the marquees and the stalls. Please make sure to access the Church from a different route. Also, note that cars will have to be parked somewhere else. Finally, in order to allow our faithful to effectively participate in the Badarak, prior to the beginning of the Festival, the St Sarkis Pastor and Parish Council have agreed to commence the Badarak at 10:30AM. This will allow us to finish the celebration of Badarak by 12:00 noon. Following Badarak, a procession will be formed from the Church to lead the clergy and altar servers to Iverna Gardens for the Antasdan (Blessing of Field) service. The procession is scheduled to start at 12:15 sharp. The faithful are welcome to join in the procession by following behind the procession.

PREMIER CHRISTIAN RADIO TO COVER OUR FESTIVAL

The Festival committee is honoured and very happy to welcome a team of the Premier Christian Radio (PCR) of the UK who will be joining our Festival tomorrow. The largest broadcasting Christian radio network in the UK, PCR, will be participating in the Festival and accessible at the radio’s stall in the Festival. Representatives of the PCR Radio station will be walking around to meet and interview guests who are attending the Festival. For weeks now PCR has been promoting the Festival on its wavelengths. In a recent interview with our own Dr Harry Hagopian, as part of the monthly broadcast of MENA by Marcus Jones and Dr Hagopian, the programme spend ample time promoting the Festival and discussing its various aspects. Thanks you PCR. We are looking forward to welcoming you amongst us tomorrow.

RAFFLE, GIFT SHOP, BRIC-A-BRAC, TOMBOLA AND MORE

The Raffle committee has finalised a very impressive list of prizes for the raffle tickets to be drawn tomorrow at 17:00. You can read the list of Prizes by downloading the Festival Booklet here, or obtaining your free copy at the Welcome Desk tomorrow. Please note that Raffle tickets will be sold throughout the Festival hours. You can purchase your tickets from the Welcome Desk or from our youth walking around the Festival grounds. Present at the Festival will be also the newly launched Armenian Gift Shop (armeniangiftshop.org) which will be showcasing the latest arrivals of Armenian books, DVDs, CDs and gift items. The committee has also arranged for stalls to have Bric-a-brac and Tombola stands. There will also be a Tavli/Nardi tournament at the Khachkar Corner of the church grounds. Please make sure to be there early and register. You never know. You may be the lucky one to win the first prize! Finally, a corner has been designated for children’s face-painting.

SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS:

 FESTIVAL: 12:00 – 18:00  CHURCH PROCESSION AND ANTASDAN: 12:15 PM.  CUTTING OF THE RIBBON CEREMONY: 1:00 PM.  FIRST AKHTAMAR DANCE: 1:00 PM  KOMITAS CHOIR OF THE TEKEYAN CULTURAL ASSOCIATION: 3:00 PM.  RAFFLE DRAWLING: 17:00 PM.  CONCLUSION: 6:00 PM

LATEST UPDATES:  Romanian TV set will be covering the Festival live.  Click here, here and here for world coverage of Festival.  Visit the Cigar and Cognac Tavern.

The Primate’s Office, Hye Doon, 25 Cheniston Gardens, Kensington, London W8 6TG – 0208 127 8364 – primatesoffice@armenianchurch.co.uk