Time in Tbilisi: July 27, 2024 04:40
After a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual Tbilisoba festival that celebrates the diversity and history of the capital city of Georgia returned with various events this year. Open-air concerts of traditional music and dancing were hosted centred on the city’s Old Town. Photo: Tbilisi City Hall
This year Tbilisoba was marked on October 1-2 at different locations in the capital, including the Orbeliani Square - decorated in the style of the Old Town - as well as Rike Park and Europe Square - where exhibitions, concerts, sports activities, craft markets and events took place - and Leghvtakhevi, which also featured installations in historical style. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Hundreds of people, including mayor Kakha Kaladze and his family - attended the 2022 edition of the festival, which was founded in 1979 and has since become an established tradition. Photo: Tbilisi City Hall
A reconstruction of the Old Town was showcased in the Leghvtakhevi visitor spot, which was decorated with Georgian fruits, vegetables, flowers and various installations. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Actors performed as part of events to re-enact scenes from the historical Old Town life. This particular photo shows a supra, the traditional Georgian feast, and its participants dressed in traditional clothes. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
The area of the popular waterfall in Leghvtakhevi was decorated with floating flower bouquets in water, a boat full of flowers and chandeliers made of cloth, which featured written excerpts from works of Georgian writers and poets. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
A boy is standing in a foot-stumping wine press, the satsnakheli, trying to press and squeeze grapes in a re-enactment of a historical type of wine production in Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Autumn harvest markets full of fruit and vegetables - from apples and pomegranates to pumpkins, garlic, broccoli and eggplant - were showcased at different locations of the festival. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Visitors of Tbilisoba taking photos at an installation featuring Georgian pottery traditions. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Tbilisoba was full of children's entertaining activities. Here a clown entertains children. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
This installation tells the history of Tbilisi development over the years. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
These women are improvising one of the notable but almost forgotten traditions of the city’s Old Town districts where shoes were cleaned in the streets. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Various shop counters were presented at the festival where visitors could buy jewellery, T-shirts, hand-knitted toys and other items. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
This woman is writing the letters of the Georgian alphabet with a feather pen as part of a themed corner on Georgian calligraphy. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Celebrations also took place at the open-air Museum of Ethnography, where visitors had the opportunity to experience revived traditions of different regions of Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Here participants of the festival cook traditional dishes of Georgian cuisine. Each table presents cuisine characteristic of each of the country’s regions. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Georgian folklore, traditional songs and dances were one of the components of the festival. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Hand-woven and embroidered carpets, rugs and shawls were hung from balconies to provide backdrop for celebrations. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
Finally, one of the most delicious parts of the festival - big tables full of Georgian dishes and most importantly the mtsvadi, or grilled meat skewers, made in almost every corner of the historical Old Town. During Tbilisoba, the whole downtown is often wrapped in the aroma of the grill. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge
This year’s Tbilisoba festival was concluded after marking its post-pandemic comeback. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge