Georgia’s western city of Zugdidi hosts Gemo Fest food, drink festival

The western Georgian city of Zugdidi hosted its first-ever Gemo Fest food and drink festival over the weekend, showcasing a variety of traditional, rare, and less-known dishes of the Samegrelo region, the country’s National Tourism Administration said on Monday.

Held in the city’s Botanical Garden, the festival featured a food zone, an agricultural market, a children’s entertainment area and music performances, while local chefs from different municipalities of the region were also involved in the event.

Gemo Fest makes a significant contribution to the development of tourist products and gastro tourism. Throughout Georgia, we offer a new version of traditional flavours. The street food was really interesting in Samegrelo”, Maia Omiadze, the head of the GNTA, said.

Gemo Fest is a very desirable festival for Samegrelo. I got an interesting experience as a participant and an entrepreneur. [...] For Samegrelo, Gemo Fest is there to attract new visitors, strengthen tourist and economic interests", Ekaterine Parulava, the participant of the event, said in her comments.

The festival aims to promote local cuisine, support entrepreneurs and increase the number of domestic and international travellers to Georgia’s regions.