Caucasus Cheese Festival 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

The Caucasus Cheese Festival (Georgian: ყველის ფესტივალი, qvelis pestivali, literally “cheese festival”) is an autumn tasting event organized by the Georgian Cheese Guild (ყველის გილდია, qvelis gilda), a professional association of small and medium-scale Georgian cheesemakers. “Qveli” is the Georgian word for cheese; the event’s English name reflects its ambition to represent dairy traditions from across the wider Caucasus region, though the great majority of producers and visitors are Georgian. It is not a religious or state holiday but a public food festival, open to residents and visitors alike.

The festival is celebrated by anyone with an interest in Georgian rural food culture: urban Tbilisi residents reconnecting with village traditions, small producers from mountain and lowland regions who rarely have a central-city outlet, and tourists curious about a country whose cheese-making is as old as its winemaking. It typically draws cheesemakers from Imereti, Samegrelo, Svaneti, Racha, Guria, Tusheti and Samtskhe-Javakheti, each bringing varieties specific to their highland or lowland pastures.

Historical background

• 6th–5th millennium BC — Archaeological work on Neolithic sites in the South Caucasus, alongside the region’s well-documented early viticulture, points to early dairy processing among settled farming communities.
• 1st millennium BC — Greek and Roman authors describing Colchis and Iberia note a pastoral economy in the Caucasus foothills in which milk, butter and fresh curd cheese were part of the highland diet.
• Medieval period — Georgian monastic and secular sources list cheese among standard foods for fasting days and travelers’ provisions, alongside bread and wine.
• 19th century — Travelers’ accounts of markets in Tbilisi and Kutaisi describe sulguni, Imeretian and guda cheeses brought down from summer pastures in skins and clay vessels.
• 1921–1991 — Under Soviet agricultural policy, part of cheese production was centralized into state dairies, while farmstead and mountain-pasture cheesemaking continued in villages.
• 1990s–2000s — After independence, family producers revived regional cheese varieties, supplying the growing farmers’ markets of Tbilisi and other cities.
• 2010s — The Georgian Cheese Guild formed as a professional association supporting small producers, traditional methods and quality standards.
• 2010s–2020s — The Guild established the Caucasus Cheese Festival as a public tasting event, with spring and autumn editions held in Tbilisi and producers invited from across the country’s regions.
• 2026 — The autumn edition is planned for mid-November in Tbilisi, with the precise weekend confirmed closer to the date.

Georgia’s cheese culture grew out of the same highland and lowland pastoral economy that produced its ancient winemaking, documented through archaeological and textual evidence stretching back millennia. Mountain communities in Svaneti, Tusheti and Racha developed cheeses suited to transhumant herding and long storage — smoked, brined or dried — while lowland Imereti and Samegrelo developed fresh, pulled and stretched styles that depend on a milder climate and closer markets.

The Caucasus Cheese Festival itself is a recent institution rather than an ancient feast day, created to give this dispersed and often informal rural trade a visible, central-city stage. Its organizers deliberately schedule the autumn edition after the grape harvest (rtveli) and the start of cold weather, when fresh young wine and hot drinks pair naturally with the season’s cheese.

Meaning and traditions

At the festival, dozens of producers set up stalls grouped loosely by region, each labeled with the cheese’s place of origin and method. Visitors move along the rows tasting small portions, buying wheels or wedges to take home, and talking directly with the farmers who made them — a contrast to supermarket cheese, which in Georgia is often sold without regional identification. Alongside cheese, stalls sell tskheli ghvino (hot mulled wine) and tskheli chai (hot tea), as well as bread, churchkhela and honey from the same producer networks.

Key cheeses to look for include sulguni (a brined, pulled-curd cheese from Samegrelo, sometimes smoked in Svaneti), imeruli qveli (fresh Imeretian cheese, the classic filling for khachapuri), guda (a mountain cheese matured inside a sewn sheepskin bag, from Tusheti and Pshavi), tenili (a stretched, fibrous cheese from Samtskhe-Javakheti and Meskheti), chechili (a braided string cheese) and dambalkhacho (a dried, pressed mountain cheese from Pshavi and Khevsureti with a strong, tangy flavor). Many stalls also serve nadughi (fresh curd) and matsoni (yogurt), both staples of the Georgian table.

Cooking demonstrations often show khachapuri being shaped and baked on the spot, and some editions include judged competitions for best cheese in various categories. Folk ensembles typically perform on a festival stage, and children’s areas sometimes include simple dairy-related workshops. Regional variation is part of the point: a visitor can taste in one afternoon cheeses that would otherwise require separate trips to Svaneti, Tusheti, Imereti and Samtskhe-Javakheti.

When it happens

The autumn edition of the Caucasus Cheese Festival has no fixed calendar date. Organizers choose a weekend in the window between late October and mid-November, after the grape harvest and once autumn weather has set in, and announce it a few weeks in advance. For 2026, the festival is planned for 14–15 November 2026, to be confirmed by the Georgian Cheese Guild closer to the date. For 2027, expect a similar window — late October to mid-November — with the exact weekend announced in the preceding weeks.

The festival is not a public holiday. Government offices, banks, schools and most businesses operate normally on festival days; only the festival venue itself has its own program and hours, typically through a weekend afternoon into evening.

Where to experience it

The festival is held in central Tbilisi, usually at either Mtatsminda Park, reached by the historic funicular up Mtatsminda plateau above the city, or at Rose Square, a central gathering space near Freedom Square. The exact venue is confirmed with each edition’s announcement. Visitors arriving at Mtatsminda Park should expect panoramic city views alongside the stalls; Rose Square offers an easier, flat, walkable setting closer to Old Tbilisi’s hotels and the metro.

A typical visit involves walking the stalls, tasting small free or low-cost samples, buying larger portions or whole wheels to take home, and warming up with a cup of mulled wine or tea between tastings. There is no church service associated with the event, but if combining a visit with nearby churches — St David’s Church and the Pantheon on Mtatsminda, for instance — modest dress (covered shoulders, and a headscarf for women entering the church) is customary. Cash is useful for small producers who may not accept cards.

Did you know

• Georgia has dozens of distinct named cheese varieties, traditionally classified by their brining, pressing and whey-stretching methods rather than by a single national standard.
• Sulguni is made using a pasta-filata technique — the curd is pulled and stretched in hot whey — a method with parallels in Italian mozzarella production, though developed independently in the Caucasus.
• Guda cheese is traditionally matured inside a sewn sheepskin bag rather than developing an external rind, a method tied to seasonal herding in Georgia’s high mountains.
• Dambalkhacho, dried and pressed into small balls, historically served mountain shepherds in Pshavi and Khevsureti as a compact, long-lasting source of protein.
• The mulled wine typically served at the festival is often made from wine produced in qvevri, the large buried clay vessels at the center of Georgia’s ancient winemaking tradition.

Practical tips for visitors

Dress in warm layers; Tbilisi in late October and November is cool, often damp, with temperatures commonly between 5°C and 15°C. If the venue is Mtatsminda Park, wear comfortable shoes for the funicular approach and uneven outdoor ground. No public transport disruptions or business closures are associated with the festival, so onward sightseeing in the city is unaffected. Confirm the exact date and venue shortly beforehand through the organizer’s announcements, as both can shift from year to year. Those combining the festival with a harvest-season trip should book accommodation and wine-region tours in advance, as late October is also peak rtveli (grape harvest) season across the country.

Combine it with

A festival visit pairs naturally with a trip to Kakheti for the same season’s grape harvest and qvevri winemaking, Imereti for the home region of Imeretian cheese and khachapuri, and Svaneti for smoked sulguni and mountain dairy traditions at their source.

Questions travellers ask

Is the Caucasus Cheese Festival a public holiday in Georgia?

No. It is an organized food festival run by the Georgian Cheese Guild, not a state or religious holiday. Government offices, banks and businesses operate normally on festival days.

Where exactly will the 2026 autumn edition be held?

Organizers plan to hold it in Tbilisi, either at Mtatsminda Park or Rose Square; the final venue is confirmed closer to the event date.

Is entry free?

Entry to the festival grounds is generally free, with visitors paying small amounts per cheese or drink sample and for larger takeaway portions, though exact pricing is set by each year’s organizers.

What cheeses should I look for first?

Try sulguni (Samegrelo), imeruli qveli (Imereti), guda (Tusheti), tenili (Samtskhe-Javakheti) and, for an adventurous taste, dambalkhacho from Pshavi and Khevsureti.

Is the festival suitable for children?

Yes. It is a family-friendly outdoor event with food stalls, music and, in many editions, simple children’s activities related to dairy and cooking.

Is this the same as Tbilisoba?

No. Tbilisoba is the city of Tbilisi’s own autumn civic holiday, usually in October, celebrating the city’s history and culture; the Caucasus Cheese Festival is a separate, guild-organized food event with no fixed date tied to the city’s calendar.

What should I wear?

Warm, layered clothing and comfortable closed shoes are recommended, since the event is outdoors in late autumn and Tbilisi weather can be cool and damp at that time of year.

Does the Guild also hold a spring edition?

Yes, the Georgian Cheese Guild has organized spring editions of the festival in addition to the autumn one, following the same format of regional producers, tastings and hot drinks.

Sources

• Georgian National Tourism Administration
• Agenda.ge, Georgian news in English
• Georgia Today
• Civil.ge
• National Wine Agency of Georgia
• Georgian National Museum
• Tbilisi City Hall