Meghri Hosted the 5th International Festival of Crafts in May 2026

Meghri, the subtropical border town at the tip of Syunik, hosted the 5th International Festival of Crafts on 16–17 May 2026. Around 40 artisans from Armenia and other CIS countries gathered to exhibit traditional crafts, run hands-on masterclasses, and fill the town with live music and national cuisine across two full days.

The festival came at a particularly meaningful moment: Meghri has been designated the CIS Cultural Capital for 2026. The opening ceremony in April drew delegates from Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and the crafts festival was the centrepiece of the public programme — the event that turned the city’s streets into a working gallery.

The two days featured ceramics, textile weaving, woodwork, metalwork, and coppersmith demonstrations alongside the market stalls. Masterclasses were open to all skill levels. Traditional Armenian cuisine vendors and folk music performances ran throughout both days.

Getting to Meghri from Yerevan takes around five hours by shared marshrutka or roughly three and a half hours by private car. The road south through the Vorotan Canyon is worth making time for, and the switchback descent into Meghri via the Meghri Pass rewards drivers who are not in a rush. If you have a spare day at either end, the Agarak border crossing into Iran is 12 kilometres further south.

The 6th International Festival of Crafts is expected to return to Meghri in May 2027. To plan a trip that includes Meghri as part of a longer route, our 7-day south Armenia itinerary covers Tatev, Goris, Kapan and Meghri as a full Syunik circuit.