Art-Gene Festival to present bands, artisans and local cuisine

Musical artists, traditional craft artisans and masters of countryside cuisine are preparing to bring their talent to this year’s Art-Gene Folk Festival launching in central Georgia next week.

Resort town Surami, a two-hour drive west of capital Tbilisi, will host the first event of the festival this year on July 10.

Participants will then move to the newly unveiled pier on Mtkvari river in Georgia’s ancient capital Mtskheta.

Tbilisi's Museum of Ethnography will host the festival in the capital city. Photo: .

Folk craft exhibition will take place in the pier of the city marked by UNESCO-recognised historical monuments, while other events will include a display illustrating Europe through eyes of the 19th century Georgian visitors.

The concert will feature ensembles and bands from the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region in the city, before the festival moves to the concluding phase in capital Tbilisi.

Young Georgian artist Sophie Villy will open the Tbilisi Tour of the annual event with her July 17 performance at the open-air Museum of Ethnography, located on the hillside leading up to the Turtle Lake recreational park.

The show will mark the ongoing tour of performances by the artist in her homeland, following her recent tour of the United States and Europe to promote her Akademia Music Award-winning album Planet A.

Singer and songwriter Sophie Villy will open the Tbilisi Tour of the fetival. Photo: Sophie Villy artist Facebook page.

The ethnography museum stage will also host popular local bands and artists including Asea sool, Nino Katamadze and Robi Kukhianidze.

Georgian cuisine will also be on display at the venue before the festival concludes with a concert by the Sukhishvilebi folk dance troupe on July 24.

The Art-Gene Folk Festival was founded 14 years ago to present live music by Georgian artists as well as folk crafts and performing arts from Georgia’s regions.