Folk festival honours Georgia’s Tusheti region (VIDEO)

If you’ve ever wanted to discover the magic of Georgia's mountainous Tusheti region, a new video illustrating one of the province's primary attractions will offer you a glimpse of the enchanting environment and culture.

Located in Georgia's northeast, Tusheti is home to medieval towers that dot the landscape and picturesque villages, and is known all over the country for the hospitality of the locals.

All that and more is featured in a new video by the Agency of Protected Areas of Georgia, released earlier today that showcases the annual Mze Moe festival.

See the promotional video about the Tusheti region's festival 'Mze Moe' below:

The occasion is named after the Georgian word for "bring the sun", aptly reflecting the local tradition of likening hosting visitors to the joy of seeing sunrise.

Hosted from June 25-26, activities at this year's festival were filmed and mixed with footage of some of Tusheti's iconic views before the video was released online.

The festival brought together locals and visitors for a program of performing arts and entertaining events and involved residents from around 50 villages of the region.

The activities were hosted in a place specifically set up in a forest clearing in the Tusheti National Park, which is part of the Tusheti Protected Areas.

Locals and visitors were entertained by a range of activities including horse riding. Photo from the Agency of Protected Areas of Georgia.

Dozens of locals and visitors tried their luck at horse riding, archery, tug-of-war games and hiking out into the open Tusheti landscape.

Festival guests were able to enjoy folk dancing and singing performances while local cuisine was cooked onsite. In addition, people could also purchase traditional art and crafts made by locals.

The Mze Moe festival serves as one of annual activities and events in Tusheti that promotes tourism to the province, which boasts 11 tourist paths through Tusheti Protected Areas.

Hiking enthusiasts attending the 'Mze Moe' festival also explored the local landscape. Screenshot from the video by the Agency of Protected Areas of Georgia.

The region is also the home of Dartlo, one of the most environmentally protected villages in the Caucasus currently undergoing infrastructural works to also encourage more tourists to the area.

The tourist potential of Tusheti is the subject of joint work between top experts from Switzerland and Georgian officials, aimed to create a master plan for the region.