This year's fifth annual Armenian Identity Festival at Victory Park, Pasadena, to be held on Sunday, July 22, is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the first printed Armenian book, PasadenaStarNews reported.
The free festival, presented by the Armenian Community Coalition of Pasadena and the Armenian Identity Harvest, is a colorful display and celebration of Armenian culture, including its literature, architecture, dance, music and cuisine.
Last year's event attracted as many as 3,000 attendees from around the region, said Khatchik "Chris" Chahinian, chairman of the Armenian Community Coalition of Pasadena.
"Five years ago, we started celebrating Armenian culture, Armenian heritage" in Pasadena, Chahinian said. "We're keeping the tradition to make this event a community event … Diversity is good for our community."
The Armenian prayer book "Ourpatakirk," or the "Book of Friday," became the first Armenian book when it was published by Hagop Meghabard in 1512 in Venice, Italy, said Armenian-American author John Ahmaranian of Pasadena.
Several years before Gutenberg's death in 1468, Meghabard invented the Armenian type mold, "which made printing from movable metallic type practical for the first time," Ahmaranian said.
"After many massacres, after many upheavals in our history, we still have 40,000 handwritten Armenian manuscripts (that) were transformed into books at the beginning of the 16th century until now," Ahmaranian said.
Armenian book themes range from biblical and religious interpretation to science and poetry, he said.
One monastery that contained 10,000 manuscripts was burned by the Mongols in Armenia around the 12th century, he said. There used to be 850 Armenian monasteries in the Ottoman Empire that also contained manuscripts, none of which still exist today, he said.
While the first published Armenian book will not be on display at Sunday's festival, several other old books from various time periods will, Chahinian said.
