The pagan Navasard holiday, which is celebrated on August 11, has been included in the official calendar of holidays in Armenia.
The respective draft law, tabled by independent MP Gegham Nazaryan, who previously represented the opposition “Armenia” Faction in parliament, was approved by the latter in its second and final reading at the special session on Friday.
According to pre-Christian Armenian tradition, Navasard symbolized the beginning of the New Year among ancient Armenians. Now it will be included in the calendar of holidays and commemorations in Armenia—but as a working day.
In addition, the all souls’ memorial days, which are traditionally observed on the Mondays following the five main holidays of the Armenian Apostolic Church, have again been officially declared non-working days in Armenia.
For many years, these all souls’ memorial days had been non-working days in Armenia. Thanks to this, the country’s residents were able to visit the graves of their deceased relatives. After the 2018 “Velvet Revolution,” however, they were declared working days by the authorities.
According to some other changes in the aforesaid legislative initiative, the government will set days of Armenia’s provinces. Yerevan Day will continue to be celebrated on the second Saturday of October, and the government will set days for the provinces, distributing them evenly throughout the year. The day dedicated to each province will be celebrated throughout Armenia.
As Gegham Nazaryan previously noted, the idea behind these new holidays, which will remain working days, is to help people living in different corners of Armenia better understand the history and culture of the provinces of their country.