- Title: Armenians douse each other with water at summer festival
- Date: 23rd July 2017
- Summary: YEREVAN, ARMENIA (JULY 23, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS PROFANITY*** VARIOUS OF PEOPLE DOUSING EACH OTHER WITH WATER IN SQUARE MEN CHEERING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PLAYING INSIDE FOUNTAIN AND AROUND IT MAN DOUSING GIRLS WITH WATER (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED TOURIST, SAYING: "I think Vardavar (water festival) is very awesome. I mean it’s just so fun, coz I see all my friends, I see this community of people. And I'm just like holly shit... (GIRL DOUSES HIM WITH WATER FROM BEHIND) It's so good honestly. Shit, yeah! I feel very nice, it's very cold too. I like it." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE DOUSING EACH OTHER WITH WATER PEOPLE PLAYING IN FOUNTAIN, WATER CANNON SPRAYING WATER OVER CROWD YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN DOUSING EACH OTHER VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PLAYING IN POOL (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED ARMENIA RESIDENT, SAYING: "Everyone is spraying water on everyone. It is very enjoyable, we enjoy (it) a lot. Come here, you are gonna enjoy this, really. You are not gonna regret anything. You are gonna love it. And as you can see the music... (MAN DOUSES HIM WITH WATER) And you can see now, I just got wet now. Nice! OK." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE INSIDE POOL
- Embargoed: 6th August 2017 13:51
- Keywords: Armenia water festival Vardavar Yerevan festival water festival
- Location: YEREVAN, ARMENIA
- City: YEREVAN, ARMENIA
- Country: Armenia
- Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0016QXT1ZT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS PROFANE LANGUAGE IN SHOT 5
Residents of the Armenian capital Yerevan dash to the streets with buckets and bottles of water as they celebrated Armenia's most joyful holiday - Vardavar water festival - on Sunday (July 23).
With summer temperatures at around 30 degrees Celsius, locals did not miss their chance to "target" and "attack" each other with buckets full of water or water hoses to get everyone drenched.
This festival traces back to the pagan times in Armenia's history. It is associated with water and fertility goddess Astghik.
Armenians used to offer roses (called "vard" in Armenian) to win her favour, and hence they called the day - Vardavar.
Visitors are often caught off-guard but quickly join the ranks of festive locals in Yerevan and nearby towns. It is impossible to avoid being splashed with water on Vardavar but no one seem to mind or take offense.
Though Armenia adopted Christianity as a state religion as early as 301 A.D., it maintained this festival throughout centuries and celebrates it in churches, 98 days after Orthodox Easter. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
