Founded in 1979 in the village of Akner. Since 1982, it has been held in the city of Alaverdi. In those years, significant contributions were made by Valeri Paranyan, Head of the Culture Department of the Alaverdi City Council Executive Committee, with the organizational support of People's Artist of the Armenian SSR Volodya Grigoryan, and Hrachya Kaplanyan, Chairman of the Theater Society of Armenia and People's Artist of the USSR.

Since 2008, the festival has been held in five cities of the Lori region. Over the years, the festival has enjoyed the support of Yervand Ghazanchyan, Chairman of the Union of Theater Workers of Armenia and People's Artist of the RA; Vahe Shahverdyan, People's Artist of the RA; and theater critics Haykaz Yeranosyan (Honored Cultural Worker of the RA) and Nvard Asatryan.

The festival has no genre limitations. To satisfy the demands of all segments of the population (featuring opera, puppet, physical, dramatic, comedy, mono-performances, and other genres), on certain days the festival curtain opened simultaneously for audiences in five cities of the region, presenting multi-genre performances. Since 2012, the festival has included theaters from CIS, European, and Asian countries in its programs. The main sponsor of the festival for many years was the Vallex Group, and since 2024, it has been the Alaverdi Municipality.

During the festival, "Russian Theater Days" are also held, as a result of which around 65 Russian theaters have performed from the Russian Federation, CIS countries, Europe, the USA, etc. This program is supported annually by the "Russkiy Mir" Foundation, operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

I have been the Director of the festival since 1988.

Sincerely, Hrachya Papinyan

Festival Director