Tbilisi prepares to host annual Tbilisoba festival

It’s time to celebrate. Georgia’s annual festival that celebrates the diversity and history of its capital city will be held the end of the month.

On October 25 and 26, the streets of Old Tbilisi will come alive in the 35th annual Tbilisoba festival, which was named in honour of Georgia’s capital city Tbilisi.

 Georgia's capital city honoured annual Festival -Tbilisoba 2013. Photo by N.Alavidze/Agenda.ge

The event is marked with a public holiday in Georgia and the occasion will feature outdoor concerts of traditional music, dancing and other cultural performances. The celebration will be based in Old Tbilisi – the main historical part of the city.

As well as celebrating the city's past and present, people from all over Georgia represent their region at the harvest fair. As well as trying regional delicacies, festival guests will have the opportunity to taste fresh Khinkali – a Georgian dumpling with spiced meat, herbs and onions – or Mtsvadi, a Georgian shashlik made from fresh meat on a skewer.

Georgia's capital city honoured annual Festival -Tbilisoba 2013. Photo by N.Alavidze/Agenda.ge

Plentiful offerings of traditional Georgian snack Churchkhela, which is made from nuts and grape juice –will not leave snack-lovers hungry.

Tbilisi Mayor Davit Narmania said the celebration of the history of Tbilisi city will held on October 25 and 26 and group had already been established and had begun to organise the annual event.

The event became a celebration of the city’s 1,500-year history and today, it is one of the most anticipated festivals in the Georgian calendar with locals and guests coming from all over the country to celebrate their capital city’s history. It also had the unintended effect of engaging Georgians more intensely in their national history.

Tbilisoba was first held on October 28, 1979, and since then it has become an honoured tradition.

 Georgia's capital city honoured annual Festival -Tbilisoba 2013. Photo by N.Alavidze/Agenda.ge

The festival was created at the desire of late President Eduard Shevardnadze, the-then First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, to honour the capital and counter attendance at religious events as part of his program to overcome "manifestations of nationalism" through introducing new "socialist traditions".