On October 5, videos (archived) of a street performance featuring people wearing pink clothes in Yerevan on Charles Aznavour Square started spreading on Facebook in Armenia. Journalist Nairi Khokhikyan was among the first to share the video (archived), describing the performance as “an obvious display of perversion and Satanism.” The video has now garnered 318 thousand views, 1300 likes, and an equal number of comments.

Most commenters criticized, insulted, and threatened the participants and organizers of the performance without knowing who they were or whether the state or Yerevan Municipality had anything to do with this event.

Media.am’s fact-checking team, Verified, has delved into the details of the event.

The interactive performance, “The Invasion,” was organized  (archived) in the framework of the 22nd International Theater Festival of Performing Arts, Hayfest, on October 3 of this year. The performance, lasting 35 minutes, was presented by Lud Group from the Republic of Slovenia, with Vida Cherkvenik Bren and Yasha Jenul as the directors.

The event description mentions that a key aspect of the performance “The Invasion” is establishing a direct connection between the actor and the audience.

According to the Ljud Group’s official website, the performance involves pink intergalactic immigrants from outer space who accidentally land on our planet. The audience is invited to confront their personal xenophobia.

The performance premiered in Austria in 2008. “Aliens” appeared at over 90 international festivals in 31 countries, including Belarus, Russia, and Israel.

The Hayfest international festival, which brings artists to Armenia, has been organized since 2003. The event receives support from the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Armenia and the Yerevan Municipality.

2019-2021: The Association of European Festivals included Hayfest in the list of 24 best festivals.

In 2023, the Ministry of Economy’s Tourism Committee allocated 5 million drams to the NGO “Armenian Actors’ Union” for organizing the 21st Hayfest international festival.

(*)According to the Yerevan Municipality, 20 million drams were allocated to “Hayfest” from the municipal budget for organizing events this year.

* This paragraph was added to the article on October 8.