What's on in Yerevan, Armenia through the year

Quiet — school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Festival

  Armenian Christmas

  5–7 JanChristmas & New YearClosures

  The Armenian church keeps Christmas on the 6th of January, together with Epiphany. Offices close either side of it and the city is at its quietest and coldest. Source ↗

Still on: Tsaghkadzor ski season (20 Dec – 20 Mar (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Festival

  Trndez, the fire holiday

  13–14 FebMajor festival

  Bonfires in courtyards and churchyards on the evening of 13 February, with couples jumping the flames. Pre-Christian in origin and kept by the Armenian church; one of the few reasons to be here in February. Source ↗

Still on: Tsaghkadzor ski season (20 Dec – 20 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Tsaghkadzor ski season (20 Dec – 20 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

• Season

  The valley heat

  20 Jun – 31 Aug · usuallyExtreme heat

  Yerevan sits in a bowl and holds the heat; the tuff buildings radiate it back after dark. Everyone who can leaves for Lake Sevan or the northern forests at weekends.

• Festival

  Vardavar

  25 Jun – 31 Jul · usuallyMajor festival

  For one day in high summer anyone on the street is fair game for a bucket of water, children and government ministers alike. There is no opting out; leave the camera at the hotel. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Festival

  Golden Apricot film festival

  5–20 Jul · usually

  Armenia's international film festival, screening across the centre in the middle of July and named for the fruit that is in the markets at the same time. Source ↗

Still on: The valley heat (20 Jun – 31 Aug (usually)), Vardavar (25 Jun – 31 Jul (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: The valley heat (20 Jun – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in September.

Busy — Areni wine festival, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Areni wine festival

  1–20 Oct · usuallyHarvestCrowded

  The wine villages an hour and a half south hold their harvest festival in October and half of Yerevan drives down for it. The road back in the evening is the part nobody plans for. Source ↗

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Tsaghkadzor ski season

  20 Dec – 20 Mar · usually

  The resort forty minutes north runs a gondola and a handful of pistes, and it is where the city goes at winter weekends. Snow cover at the bottom is the unreliable part.