Fresno Bee (subscription), CA
Gina Yedalian, right, Anoush Yaralian, center, and Eugeni Massoyan,
left, pour oil into the mix of onions and spices as they prepare the
first part of the mixture for stuffed grape leaves for the Grand
Armenian Festival. Photo
Armenians’ 800-year-old sweet grape tradition to go public this
weekend
By Vanessa Colón / The Fresno Bee
09/21/07 05:37:57
For decades, a group of Armenian-American families and friends has
gathered privately at a Del Rey ranch to observe an 800-year-old
Armenian harvest tradition.
Starting today, the Grand Armenian Festival will give the public the
opportunity to experience it.
The festival, at the California Armenian Home on East Kings Canyon
Road in southeast Fresno, runs through Sunday, and features Armenian
folk dancing, a mock Armenian wedding and traditional Armenian
needlework exhibits.
But the main attraction unfolds at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. That’s when a
batch of a sweet grape molasses froth called prpoor will be finished,
signaling the start of a harvest party that features traditional
Armenian dances — and a chance to sample the syrupy sweet liquid.
The festival is traditionally held on the last day of the grape
harvest and gives Valley Armenians a chance to relive the experience
of their ancestors.
The festival has "been a long-kept secret. This is a huge, gigantic
undertaking," said Diko Chekian, a member of the Armenian Cultural
Foundation, which is organizing the festival.
The festival is expected to draw 5,000 people, according to Fresno’s
chapter of Armenian Cultural Foundation, a nonprofit organization made
up of several groups such as the Armenian Youth Federation and the
Armenian Relief Society.
The foundation decided to sponsor a public festival after hearing that
Valley Armenian families wanted to experience the celebration held for
years in Del Rey, Chekian said. The foundation was not involved in the
Del Rey event, although some of its members have been participants.
More than a hundred people have come each year to the Santikian family
ranch in Del Rey, where they ate, danced and waited for prpoor.
The autumn harvest festival is said to have begun in a village in
Kessab, Syria, according to the Armenian Cultural Foundation.
Village children crushed grapes with their feet. The juice was then
boiled for hours over a wood fire to create a thick molasses,
according to the foundation. An appointed leader scooped up a
gourd-full, held it high and ribboned the molasses through the air to
check its consistency. When it was ready, the leader shouted "prpoor,
prpoor" to start the party.
Families in the Valley have kept the tradition by re-enacting it at a
Del Rey ranch for years.
"I grew up with it. It’s something you look forward to. … It’s an
act that seems to reinvigorate cultural feelings," said Hoorig
Santikian, daughter of the Del Rey couple who have hosted the
celebration.
Hilda Santikian, 58, said the Del Rey celebration was started by her
husband’s uncle and has been a tradition for decades. The Santikian
family still plans to do their private celebration in two weeks.
Vicken Kalamkarian, 18, of Fresno said the celebration is one of his
favorite cultural events because he gets to revisit the past and have
a great time. Kalamkarian plans to come to the festival even though he
has gone to the Del Rey ranch event since he was a young child.
"It’s not going to have that same warmth … but the fact there’s
going to be more people, it will enhance it," Kalamkarian said.
The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (559) 441-6313.