Georgia is a country that many love. Some people admire its nature. Its culture is multifaceted, its people are multinational. There are a lot of holidays! Some belong only to ethnic groups, they are celebrated on the basis of Georgian traditions. Others are heterogeneous European and Eastern cultures.
Day of Fate
National holidays in Georgia have their own unique appeal and touching. Let's get acquainted with them. The trouble, or Day of Destiny, is celebrated on January 2. Each person always hopes for the best, dreams of a profitable job, of a loved one, of beautiful children, that is, that his life will be successful. This is probably why Georgians revere Bedoba like that. On this day they put on everything clean and beautiful, lovingly prepared the day before. Quarrels, abuse, disputes are considered a terrible sin. You can’t even get sick. Well, if you have already overtaken the sores - seem peppy, do not whine, do not groan. A bad omen is considered to be in separation from relatives. On this day, fun on the street continues, dances, fireworks, music. But everyone hurries to return to the house before dinner, so as not to be absent from the house for a year. Day of Fate is spent at home in a circle of loved ones. By the way, many holidays in Georgia are connected with the family.
Tbilisoba
Tbilisoba is a celebration of trade fairs, wine tastings, festivals and outdoor concerts. Dedicated to the city of Tbilisi, which is reflected in its name. On this day, car traffic is blocked. Artists and singers come to concerts with their programs. At fairs selling farm products, the fruits of the crop rise in huge mountains. Masters put their crafts to the court of fellow citizens. The holiday went beyond the borders of Georgia. The Georgian diaspora celebrates it in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities of Russia.
Chiacoconoba
Chiacoconoba is an ancient pagan holiday. It has an analogy with our Ivan Kupala. Celebrated on Wednesday before Maundy Thursday. High bonfires are lit at night. Men, women, teenagers jump through the fire, passing the rite of purification.
Spring Festival
Navruz, or Spring Festival, is an ethnic Muslim holiday. It is celebrated by Azerbaijanis and Adjarian Georgians. It symbolizes the beginning of a new life, is the oldest holiday on Earth. A merry holiday with songs, dances. A feast is obligatory with sweets. No one knows how to cook praises and horsemen like Georgian housewives. And I’m hitting? Dried fruits with nuts beautifully laid in a wicker - an unforgettable beauty and taste.
Mothers Day
Mother's Day is celebrated on March 3. Beloved by all. Georgians are very good sons and daughters. On this day, the streets are buried in flowers, women receive bouquets and gifts from loved ones, from sons and friends. On this day, concerts in the streets gather crowds of people. Mothers in Georgia are very respectful. Each Georgian honors his family, takes pride in his origin, and greatly values family and kinship relations. A lot of close and distant relatives gather at the table that day.
Giorgoba
Georgia is mainly an Orthodox country. Church holidays in Georgia glorify their national saints and universally recognized world ones. During the days of celebration , many pilgrims from all over the world come to the country to bow to the associates of the Christian faith.
Giorgoba is the feast of St. George. All churches, all monasteries of the country celebrate this great day. Georgians worship this saint so much that his glory days became public holidays and are declared non-working.
Mareamoba
Mareamoba - The Assumption of the Holy Virgin - a surprisingly pacified holiday, covered in sincere sorrow. Georgians believe that their country is under the vigilant care of the Mother of God, therefore this holiday is especially revered by them.
Svetitskhovloba
Svetitskhovloba is a holiday of the Chiton of the Lord and the Pillar of the Life-Giving. Each Orthodox Georgian with his mother’s milk absorbed the story of how two priests brought Jesus tunic - a veil in which he was executed. At the burial site of the tunic, a myrrh-flowing cedar grew. The afflicted came to him, hugged a tree, put their hands and he brought them healing. The pillars for the church that was built there are made of cedar trunk. On this day, believers are baptized, a huge number of people are present at the most beautiful church services.
Lamproba
Lamproba is the oldest holiday in Georgia. It is dedicated to St. George the Victorious. He was born among the most beautiful places in Georgia - Sacred, a place where the traditions of ancestors are still observed. The holiday is dedicated to the victory over enemies. On this day in the houses there is a feast on the mountain, torches are lit according to the number of men there.
Unity day
As in any self-respecting country, there are also public holidays in Georgia. On April 9, National Unity Day is celebrated - this is the day when the country honors the memory of soldiers who defend the freedom of their homeland and who died for this freedom in 1989, when the USSR introduced its troops into Georgia.
Valentine's Day
Our country celebrates Valentine's Day, and Georgia has its own holiday - Valentine's Day. His Georgian youth celebrates on the fifteenth of April. Flowers, gifts, hugs, kisses, declarations of love to the grave - all, like all lovers.
New Year's Eve. Features
What other holiday is celebrated in Georgia? New Year. I would also like to talk about unusual traditions during the New Year's Eve. In each house, along with the Christmas tree, before the holiday, the so-called chichilaki appear. These are wooden sticks decorated with fine chips. Sweets, dried fruits, toys are broadcast on this product. After the holiday, chichilaki is burned so that everything bad disappears with the smoke. The New Year's table is obliged not only to be plentiful, it should crouch under the weight of yummy. Procurement of products for the holiday begins two weeks before it. The store shelves and markets represent the cornucopia. There is everything that is dreamed of and even “that, I do not know what”. Then next year will be as satisfying and full as this table.
Preparing for the New Year
Preparations for the celebration begin long before the New Year. Georgian housewives are very kind to the general cleaning of the apartment, house, yard, garden, workplace. Carpets are cleaned, feather-beds, pillows and mattresses are dried, washed or changed to new curtains, windows are washed, every centimeter of furniture and floor is cleaned. New Year's Eve is held in accordance with the most ancient rituals that Georgians carefully preserved to this day.
Rituals and rules for the New Year holidays
On New Year's holidays in Georgia, you cannot sleep at night so as not to oversleep your happiness. It is believed that if the doors are opened on New Year's Eve, happiness walking in the streets will surely drop into the house and settle for the whole next year. Very beautiful ceremony. Many rituals are associated with bread. For the holiday, Georgians are baking a white bagel in the shape of a bagel, which is hung on a vine. The ritual attracts wealth and health.
Many families put a small table with sweets at night. It is located in the middle of the room, and a candle is placed in every corner of the house. Exactly at midnight, the head of the family with this table in his hands goes around the house, attracting an angel to the family. He will bring happiness in the future and will protect the whole year for everyone living in this house.
At 12 o’clock the head of the family goes out and shoots. According to Georgian legend, one shot kills one evil spirit. Of course, fireworks are now firing on New Year's Eve, but the tradition of killing the evil spirit is still alive. A very beautiful belief is connected with mekvle, the man who first appeared in the house on January 1. If the next year for the owners will be hospitable and happy, then their mekvle has a clean and bright soul. Such a person forever becomes a welcome guest. And on January 1 next year he is invited on purpose. Another tradition is January 1st. On this day, fun on the street continues, dances, fireworks, music. But everyone hurries to return to the house before dinner, so as not to be absent from it for a whole year.
Rtveli
And, of course, the wine holidays in Georgia deserve attention! Still, it is not New Year's Eve here that is a family holiday, but undoubtedly Rtveli. This holiday is dedicated to the god Dionysus, and he goes back to paganism. During Christianity, the famous Greek orgies sunk into oblivion. But people continue to sincerely rejoice in young wine and arrange grandiose feasts. The celebration is distinguished by a sincere desire to show all kinds of recipes for Georgian wines.
Cheese festival
In addition to holidays in Georgia, there are also festivals of various kinds. Cheese Festival - a large-scale event. In 2015, it became an international festival. Cheese lovers come from all over the world. Guests can taste a huge number of Georgian and Caucasian types of product. During the festival, cheese makers demonstrate the ancient art of making cheese, braiding methods. There are cheeses in oil, in honey with flowers. Therefore, you must come to the festival hungry so that the tasting is complete.
Grape harvest festival
The most famous Georgian festival is the harvesting of Rtveli grapes. Passes in the wine center of Kakheti. The ritual of celebrating the festival begins in the family. Bunches of grapes are placed in beautiful wicker baskets and clay jugs, then the holiday of young wine in Georgia begins. Until late at night, music and songs never cease. This event is one of the most beloved by Georgians.
Folk festival
Performers and songwriters await the annual folk festival. Long before the holiday, national song and dance groups are preparing for a performance. The ethnic festival annually revives the traditions of the talented Georgian people. National clothes, perky dances, melodious tunes of Georgian soul songs attract the young generation and a huge number of tourists.
Quiricoba
And what is the next holiday in Georgia in 2018? July 27-28 - Quiricoba. Feast of the memory of the martyrs Kvirike and Ivlita. This is the only day you can touch the icon of Chaliana.