Khashuroba in Georgia: dates, meaning and how to experience it

By Mariam Lomidze, GTour desk · Fact-checked against the sources listed · Last checked 25 October 2026 · Editorial policy

What it is

Khashuroba is the annual town festival of Khashuri, a district center in the Shida Kartli region of central Georgia. The name follows a common Georgian naming pattern: the suffix -oba, meaning roughly “the day of” or “the condition/festival of,” is attached to a place name to create a civic holiday — the same pattern that gives Tbilisi its own autumn festival, Tbilisoba, and Batumi its Batumoba. Khashuroba therefore means, literally, something close to “Khashuri-day” or “the festival of Khashuri.”

Unlike church feasts fixed to a saint’s day on the Georgian Orthodox calendar, Khashuroba is a secular, municipal celebration. It is observed chiefly by residents of Khashuri and the surrounding villages of Shida Kartli, by former residents who return for the occasion, and by visitors drawn from across the region for the fair, concerts and sporting events that fill the town’s central square and stadium for a day or a weekend each autumn.

Historical background

• 10th–13th century — Surami Fortress, guarding the narrow Surami Pass through the Likhi Range that separates the Kartli plain from the Imereti lowlands, is built and repeatedly rebuilt to control the only practical land route between eastern and western Georgia.
• 1801 — The Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti is absorbed into the Russian Empire, and the settlements of what is now Khashuri municipality pass into the Tiflis Governorate administration.
• 1872 — The Poti–Tbilisi line of the Transcaucasian Railway is completed, placing the village of Khashuri directly on the only rail route linking the Black Sea coast to the Georgian interior.
• 1894 — A branch line from Khashuri toward the resort town of Borjomi opens, later extended toward Bakuriani, turning Khashuri into a railway junction rather than a simple station stop.
• Early-to-mid 20th century — Khashuri grows around its rail yards and locomotive depot into a recognized town (qalaqi) and becomes one of the main industrial and transport centers of Shida Kartli during the Soviet period.
• Soviet decades — Across Georgia, towns and the capital begin holding annual “city day” festivals combining agricultural fairs, sports and concerts; Khashuroba takes shape within this wider civic tradition, alongside Tbilisoba and similar local celebrations elsewhere in the republic.
• 1991 onward — Following Georgian independence, Khashuri’s municipal government continues the autumn town-day tradition under local administration, adapting the program to post-Soviet civic and cultural life.
• Today — Khashuroba is organized by Khashuri City Hall, usually in cooperation with the Shida Kartli regional administration, as a one- or two-day event combining a market, concerts, exhibitions and award ceremonies for notable local citizens.

Khashuri’s position explains much of its character. Sitting at the foot of the Surami Pass, the town has functioned for centuries as the hinge between Georgia’s humid, subtropical west and its drier, continental east — a geographic fact long before it became a railway fact. The completion of the Transcaucasian Railway in the 1870s, followed by the branch toward Borjomi and Bakuriani in the 1890s, transformed a crossroads settlement into a working rail town, and it is this later, railway-era identity that gave Khashuri the scale and civic self-consciousness needed to sustain a town festival at all.

Khashuroba belongs to a distinctly modern layer of Georgian festive life: the municipal “day” celebrations that spread across Soviet Georgian towns in the later twentieth century and that survived, in adapted form, into independence. These festivals are not religious feasts and carry no fixed date in the church calendar; instead they mark civic identity, the end of the agricultural season and the achievements of the local community, and their scheduling is set each year by the town administration rather than inherited from ancient liturgical practice.

Meaning and traditions

The core of Khashuroba is the bazroba, a fair in which farmers and artisans from Khashuri municipality and nearby Shida Kartli villages sell autumn produce, honey, cheese, wine and handicrafts from stalls set up along the main street or in the town square. A stage program typically follows, with folk ensembles, school choirs and invited Georgian performers, interspersed with speeches by the mayor (meri) and regional governor thanking the community and recognizing honorary citizens.

Food and drink follow the familiar grammar of a Georgian public holiday: grilled mtsvadi (skewered meat), khinkali dumplings, fresh shoti bread, and strings of churchkhela sold alongside the harvest stalls. Where families gather privately to mark the day, a supra (feast table) presided over by a tamada (toastmaster) is common, with toasts to the town, to guests and to ancestors, sometimes closed with the polyphonic hymn Mravalzhamier (“many years”), sung at celebrations across Georgia. Sporting elements can include traditional Georgian wrestling, chidaoba, alongside modern football or athletics competitions for local youth.

Khashuroba differs in kind from the older religious town festivals that share the -oba suffix, such as Mtskhetoba, which marks a fixed feast of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Khashuroba is civic rather than liturgical, so its program, scale and even its exact date are set anew each year by local organizers rather than fixed by canon.

When it happens

There is no fixed calendar date for Khashuroba. Georgian town-day festivals of this kind are typically scheduled for a weekend in autumn, after the main harvest, and the precise date is confirmed by the municipal administration only shortly beforehand, depending on weather, the agricultural calendar and the availability of performers. In practice, Khashuroba has fallen in the second half of October in recent years.

This year, the festival is held on 25 October 2026. Organizers have provisionally indicated 23 October 2027 for the following year, though this date is still to be confirmed closer to the event. Khashuroba is not a national public holiday in Georgia: government offices, banks, schools and most businesses nationwide operate normally, though local municipal offices and some shops in Khashuri itself may close early on the day of the main celebration, and traffic around the central square is typically restricted for the fair and concert.

Where to experience it

The festival centers on Khashuri’s central square and the adjoining cultural house and stadium, where the fair stalls, main stage and sporting events are set up from morning into evening, usually closing with an evening concert and, in some years, fireworks. Visitors arriving by train or along the Tbilisi–Batumi highway pass directly through the town and can combine the festival with a short stop at Surami, a few kilometers away, to see the medieval Surami Fortress on its hilltop above the pass.

No specific church etiquette governs the secular festival program itself, but visitors who step into any of the small churches in Khashuri or Surami during their visit should follow standard Georgian Orthodox practice: modest dress, shoulders and knees covered, and head coverings for women where provided at the entrance. If invited to a private supra as part of the celebrations, it is customary to wait for the tamada’s toasts before drinking and to accept food offered by hosts graciously.

Did you know

• Khashuri sits almost exactly at the geographic hinge of Georgia, where the humid subtropical climate of the Imereti lowlands gives way to the drier, more continental climate of the Kartli plain.
• The nearby Surami Fortress inspired Daniel Chonkadze’s nineteenth-century novella and, later, Sergei Parajanov’s 1984 film “The Legend of Suram Fortress.”
• Khashuri became a railway junction in the 1890s, when a branch line was built from the main Tbilisi–Poti route toward the resort town of Borjomi, historically favored by the Russian imperial family.
• The “-oba” suffix used in Khashuroba is the same grammatical pattern behind Tbilisoba, Georgia’s best-known autumn city festival.
• Georgian polyphonic singing, often heard at feast tables during town festivals like Khashuroba, is recognized by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Practical tips for visitors

Khashuri lies on the main Tbilisi–Kutaisi–Batumi railway line and the parallel E60 highway, roughly ninety minutes to two hours from Tbilisi by car or train depending on service; trains are operated by Georgian Railway. Because the exact Khashuroba date is confirmed only shortly in advance, travelers planning a visit around the festival should check with the municipality or a local operator close to the time. Late October weather in Shida Kartli is cool and sometimes rainy, so warm layers and sturdy shoes are advisable for an outdoor fair and stage program. Khashuri has limited hotel capacity, so many visitors base themselves in Tbilisi, Gori or Borjomi and travel in for the day; GTour arranges a private driver or guide for the day, including a stop at Surami Fortress en route.

Combine it with

Khashuroba sits naturally within a wider itinerary across central Georgia: the fortresses, wine cellars and churches of Kartli, the mountain resort towns reached via the historic branch railway in Samtskhe-Javakheti, and the lowland towns and cathedrals of Imereti just across the Surami Pass.

Questions travellers ask

What does “Khashuroba” mean?

It means, literally, “the day” or “festival of Khashuri.” The suffix “-oba” is regularly added to Georgian place names to form the name of that town’s civic festival, as with Tbilisoba for Tbilisi.

Is Khashuroba a religious holiday?

No. It is a secular, municipal town festival organized by local government, distinct from fixed Georgian Orthodox feast days that also use the “-oba” suffix, such as Mtskhetoba.

When exactly is Khashuroba held each year?

There is no permanently fixed date. Organizers typically schedule it for a weekend in October, after the harvest, and confirm the exact date shortly beforehand. In 2026 it falls on 25 October; the 2027 date is provisionally 23 October, to be confirmed.

Is Khashuroba a public holiday in Georgia?

No. It is a local municipal event, not a national public holiday, so government offices, banks and most businesses across the country remain open as usual on that day.

How do I get to Khashuri from Tbilisi?

Khashuri is reached by train on the Tbilisi–Kutaisi–Batumi line or by road along the E60 highway, a journey of roughly ninety minutes to two hours. A private driver can also combine the trip with a stop at Surami Fortress.

What can visitors see and do during Khashuroba?

Visitors can browse an open-air fair of local produce and crafts, watch folk and contemporary musical performances on the main stage, see sporting events including traditional wrestling, and sample regional food such as khinkali, mtsvadi and churchkhela.

Is Khashuroba similar to Tbilisoba?

Yes, in structure: both are municipal autumn celebrations with fairs, concerts and civic recognition events, though Khashuroba is smaller in scale and reflects Khashuri’s identity as a railway and agricultural town rather than a capital city.

What else is there to see near Khashuri?

The medieval Surami Fortress is a short drive away, and the town’s railway junction gives easy onward access toward the mountain resorts of Borjomi and Bakuriani in Samtskhe-Javakheti, as well as westward toward Imereti and Kutaisi.

Sources

• Georgian National Tourism Administration
• Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia
• National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat)
• Georgian Railway
• Government of Georgia
• Legislative Herald of Georgia (Matsne)