On March 2 “‘Theatre-X’ annual festival is launched in Armenia for the third time and this year the festival is notable for the number of participating theatres.

A leading architect in Armenia has voiced his strong opposition to plans approved by the government to convert what currently is an outdoor cinema theater in downtown Yerevan into a church construction site.

Last week the Armenian government decided to approve a proposal made by the management of Moscow Cinema Ltd to alienate the territory currently occupied by its outdoor theater (18 Abovyan Street, central Yerevan) in favor of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin – for the purpose of building a new church on the site of St. Paul and Peter (Poghos-Petros) Church that used to stand there until the 1930s and was demolished by the Soviet regime.

The Armenian government has approved a proposal made by the management of Moskva Cinema Ltd to alienate the territory currently occupied by its outdoor theater (in 18 Abovyan Street, central Yerevan) in favor of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin - for the purpose of building a new church on the site of the St. Paul and Peter Church that was destroyed by the Soviet regime.

Armenian churches in the eastern province of Van will be restored, deputy governor said on Monday.

Speaking to the A.A correspondent, Van deputy governor Halil Berk said that Armenian churches in Carpanak Island and Yukaribakracli village in the province would be restored within the scope of a project prepared by the governor's office.

The possible increase in gas tariffs will have a direct impact upon the activities of theatres, because the State Budget 2010 prescribed lower gas prices for theatres, and other state institutions.

Geghardavank Choir from Armenia won the Grand Prix at the International Sacred Music Festival, in Belarus, beating out 40 participating groups from 5 countries.

Eva Rivas’s winning song to present Armenia at Eurovision 2010 this May in Oslo has raised a wave of protest in Turkey, which claims that Armenia’s song has “a political context hinting at the Armenian Genocide.”

World famous rock musicians Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) and Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell) sent musical instruments as a gift for N6 musical school in Gyumri.

Sunday’s Eurovision competition has created controversy and charges that the outcome was rigged.

Nadezhda Sargsyan, the mother of contestant and popular singer Emmy, says she will file charges in court alleging that the vote result was falsified.

Architects and members of the cultural community are demanding that the Ministry of Culture of Armenia reclaim the site on which the former Yerevan Youth Palace – a Yerevan landmark for decades – stood.