During a ceremony in honor of Gyumri's City Day, Armenian Prime MinisterNikol Pashinyan announced a new tradition to hold national celebrations in different parts of the country, starting with Gyumri in 2019.
Independence Day military parade
Military parades celebrating the independence of Armenia have been held on Republic Square in Yerevan in 1992, 1996, 1999, 2006, 2011, and 2016. The celebrations begin as the parade commander arrives on Republic Square to receive the report from the Commandant of the Vazgen Sargsyan Military University on the readiness of the troops participating in the parade. At 10 am, the President and the Prime Minister arrives as the parade commander orders the parade to present arms for the Defence minister of Armenia. The parade commander then is driven on a Nissan Patrol SUV to the center of the square to inform the defense minister that the parade is now ready for inspection. The minister then inspects the parade contingents and congratulates them on the holiday. At the conclusion of the inspection, the minister approaches the president on the tribune and says "Mr/Madam President, the troops of the Armed Forces of Armenia participating in the parade in honor of the anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armenia, are ready for the parade to march past". After the minister finishes their report to the president, the parade commander orders the parade to stand at ease, to where the Presidential Fanfare is then sounded, and the president then delivers a holiday address to the assembled formations. At the conclusion of the address, the parade formations shout a threefold Oorah, followed by the playing of Mer Hayrenik by the massed bands of the general staff. The parade is then ordered to prepare for the march past, with armed linemen and markers from the Honour Guard of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia marching to their post in front of the central tribune to provide the security for the march past. The parade commander then orders the parade to march past the saluting base with the Corps of Drums from the Monte Melkonian Military College setting the pace of the parade led by its drum major, followed by the national colour guard and then the parade contingents. As the Corps of Drums marches past the grandstand, the drum major executes eyes right as the drummers swing their sticks. The parades includes personnel from the Armenak Khanperyants Military Aviation University, the Military Police, the 12th Peacekeeping Brigade, the Armenian Border Guard, and veterans of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army.
1996
The parade in 1996 celebrated the 5th anniversary of independence. It coincided with the 1996 Armenian presidential election, which would take place the day after. The opposition charged President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was in attendance, with putting on a show of force to his opposition and particularly supporters of his opponent Vazgen Manukyan.
1999
The 1999 parade that celebrated the 8th anniversary of independence was commanded by Major General Manvel Grigoryan and inspected by Lieutenant GeneralVagharshak Harutiunyan. New rocket systems were seen among the military hardware seen. Many questioned the wisdom of spending public funds for the parade while others were enthusiastic, with an Armenian-American described the parade as "beautiful to see" and as a demonstration of an "ability to take care of ourselves and not to be massacred as we have in our history".
2006
2006 celebrated the 15th anniversary of Armenia's independence. The parade began with Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan, and Chief of StaffMikael Harutyunyan inspecting the troops congratulating them on the holiday. This was the first time the parade speech was given by the President of Armenia.
Armenia's 25th anniversary parade in 2016 was the biggest celebration in Armenia's history. Commanding the parade was Major General Andranik Magariyan, the commander of the Joint-Forces. More than 350,000 people were spectators and participants of the events. Among the new participants were students of Small Mher School and the youth wing of the Yerkrapah. An international peace brigade carrying the flags of the United States, Germany, Italy, Poland and Greece took part in the parade. Several Russian-made weapons were on display, the most important of which were 9K720 Iskander. A dozen MiG-29 fighter jets from Russian and Armenian Su-25attack aircraft flew overhead.
Diaspora celebrations
Independence day celebrations are also held in diaspora countries such as Russia, Lebanon and the United States. In the United States specifically, Armenian-American youth organizations hold rallies and cultural programs on this day. The Armenian Independence Day Festival in Los Angeles's Little Armenia was established in 1998, attracting around 5,000 spectators on Independence Day. In 2019, Prime Minister Pashinyan visited the city during the Independence Day celebrations, the first visit of its kind.
