WATERVLIET, N.Y. >> This weekend, the St. Peter Armenian Apostolic Church is expected to be filled with thousands of guests attending the annual Armenian Festival.
Guests who attend the free, two-day festival will be able to taste and enjoy many different kinds of Armenian foods, listen and dance to Armenian music, shop at different vendors, and kids will enjoy various carnival rides.
The festival will run from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and then again from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday at 100 Troy Schenectady Road church.
Guests will be able to taste authentic Armenian foods such as Kebab meals like chicken, losh or lamb along with the famous Hye Burger and special pastries like Paklava. For any guests that can drink alcohol there will be special Armenian beer and wine for tasting.
“It’s going to be bigger and better this year, we’re expecting a 25 percent increase from last year because of the popularity of it, it’s really been growing every year,” said Rafi Topalian, one of the organizers of the festival.
When the festival first started in 1910, it was a family picnic for the Armenian community. From that, it grew to a one-day festival and it is now a two-day event. Topalian said that in the future, the festival could even expand to three days.
Topalian said the first Armenian Church community in the Capital Region was established in Green Island in 1899 and a large Armenian community moved to Troy in the early 1900s. The Watervliet church was built in 1970.
“It’s really fun for the entire family, there’s some attraction whether it be the traditional Armenian dances, whether it be the tours, whether it be the children games, or whether it be the fabulous entrees of food,” Topalian said.
There is free parking and free admission to the event with indoor and outdoor seating. Even though the festival is free admission, Topalian says the church is still able to use the two-day event as a fundraising opportunity with items that people purchase during the festival.
For more information about the festival, visit the church’s website at stpeterarmenianchurch.com, contact Rafi Topalian at (518) 810-5018 or the church at (518) 274-3673.