Didacharoba 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

Didacharoba (დიდაჭარობა) takes its name from Didachara, a highland village in the Khulo municipality of Adjara, combined with the Georgian suffix -oba, which turns a place or saint’s name into the name of a feast day — the same pattern that gives Georgian its Alaverdoba, Mariamoba and dozens of other local festivals. Literally, the word means “the feast of Didachara,” and it is one of the best-known of the mountain celebrations that punctuate the Adjarian calendar between spring and autumn.

The festival is celebrated by the communities of upper Adjara — villages around Khulo and the Didachara gorge — together with relatives who return from Batumi, Tbilisi and abroad for the day, and increasingly by visitors drawn by the sporting contests and the mountain scenery. It sits at the intersection of two layers of local memory: a Christian commemoration linked to the apostolic mission of St Andrew along the Black Sea coast, and a much older highland culture of wrestling, horsemanship and communal feasting that long outlived the religious changes the region went through under Ottoman rule.

Historical background

• 1st century AD — According to Georgian church tradition, the Apostle Andrew the First-Called preached along the eastern Black Sea littoral, including historical Adjara, making him the earliest apostle associated with Georgian Christianization, a tradition recorded in later Georgian ecclesiastical writing and upheld by the Britannica entry on Saint Andrew.
• 4th century — Christianity is adopted as the state religion of the kingdom of Kartli under King Mirian III, setting the broader framework within which coastal and highland Georgian communities, including Adjara, developed their own church traditions.
• 16th–19th centuries — Ottoman administration over Adjara brings gradual conversion of much of the highland population to Islam, while local saints’ days, wrestling contests and horse culture persist as shared communal practice regardless of confession.
• 1878 — Following the Russo-Turkish War and the Treaty of Berlin, Adjara is incorporated into the Russian Empire, beginning a slow re-engagement with Georgian Orthodox institutions along the coast and in parts of the highlands.
• Early–mid 20th century — Under Soviet rule, religious gatherings are discouraged or reframed as secular folk and sporting events; wrestling matches and horse races in highland Adjara continue largely as community festivals rather than church feasts.
• 1991 — Georgian independence allows open revival of local religious and folk festivals across the country, including renewed public observance of saints’ days in Adjara.
• 2000s–2010s — Didacharoba is formalized as an annual public festival in Khulo municipality, promoted through regional tourism programs of the Adjara Autonomous Republic.
• Present day — The festival is listed among highland Adjara’s seasonal events by regional tourism authorities, drawing both local families and visitors to Khulo for wrestling, racing and feasting each 12 May.

The layering is characteristic of Georgian highland culture generally: an apostolic or saintly association gives a date its name and its sanction, while the actual content of the day — sport, horsemanship, music, and an open-air feast — reflects centuries of communal practice that predates, and outlasted, any single religious framework. In Adjara this layering is unusually visible, because the highlands experienced a substantial Islamization under Ottoman administration that did not erase older calendar observances so much as absorb them into a shared local identity.

What survives at Didachara today is therefore not a liturgical commemoration in the manner of a church feast day elsewhere in Georgia, but a village festival whose name and date commemorate St Andrew’s traditional arrival while its substance — chidaoba wrestling, mountain horse races, and Adjarian hospitality — belongs to a much older highland calendar of seasonal gatherings.

Meaning and traditions

The central event of Didacharoba is chidaoba (ჩიდაობა), traditional Georgian folk wrestling in which competitors wear a short jacket called a chokha variant or a canvas jacket with a belt, grip only the opponent’s upper body, and attempt to throw them to the ground; matches are accompanied by the zurna and doli (drum), whose rhythm paces the bout. Alongside the wrestling, highland horsemen stage races along the ridge trails above the village — a test of local horse breeding as much as riding skill, since mountain families in Khulo have long kept sure-footed local horses for terrain that is unsuitable for vehicles for much of the year.

Food is central to the day. Tables are laid with Adjarian specialties: khachapuri acharuli (the boat-shaped cheese bread with a butter-and-egg center), mchadi (cornbread), lobio (bean stew), and grilled or stewed meat shared among extended families and visiting guests. Toasting follows the structure of a Georgian supra (feast), led by a tamada (toastmaster), with toasts to guests, ancestors and the mountains themselves. Music includes Adjarian polyphonic singing and dances such as gandagana, performed in circles to the zurna and drum. Because highland Adjara includes both Muslim and Christian households, the festival is deliberately inclusive in character: it is marked as a shared village occasion rather than a strictly confessional one, a pattern distinct from saints’ day feasts (such as Alaverdoba in Kakheti) that remain more tightly bound to church ritual.

When it happens

Didacharoba falls on a fixed civil date, 12 May, each year, rather than following the movable Georgian Orthodox Julian-based calendar used for Easter-linked feasts. In 2026 it falls on Tuesday, 12 May; in 2027 it falls on Wednesday, 12 May. It is a local and regional observance rather than a nationwide statutory public holiday, so government offices and most businesses across Georgia operate normally; in Khulo itself, however, many shops, schools and offices close or shorten hours for the day, and the village of Didachara fills with visitors from early morning.

Where to experience it

The festival is centered on an open field near Didachara village in Khulo municipality, reached by the mountain road from Batumi through Khulo town — a drive of roughly two to three hours depending on conditions. Events typically run through the day: informal gathering and food preparation in the morning, chidaoba wrestling bouts at midday in a roped-off arena, horse races along the surrounding ridges in the afternoon, and communal feasting and music into the evening. Visitors are welcome to watch the wrestling and racing from the margins of the field; modest dress is appropriate given the mixed Muslim and Christian character of the community, and guests invited into a private home for a meal should expect, and reciprocate, the toasting customs of a Georgian supra. Photography of participants is generally welcomed but, as with any community festival, it is courteous to ask before photographing individuals closely.

Did you know

• Chidaoba, the wrestling style performed at Didacharoba, is one of the oldest documented folk sports in Georgia, with versions recorded across the Caucasus for centuries.
• Traditional Georgian polyphonic singing, heard at festivals such as Didacharoba, is inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
• Highland Adjara’s horse culture persists partly out of necessity: many Khulo-area villages remain difficult to reach by vehicle in winter and spring, keeping horse breeding and riding skill a living tradition rather than a revival for tourists.
• Unlike most Georgian saints’ day feasts, Didacharoba is observed by both Muslim and Christian highland families, reflecting Adjara’s distinct religious history under Ottoman administration.
• Khulo municipality sits among the highest inhabited valleys in Adjara, and some of its villages are linked by Georgia’s last operating cable cars built originally for everyday transport rather than tourism.

Practical tips for visitors

The road from Batumi to Khulo climbs steeply and switches back repeatedly; a private car or organized transport is strongly preferable to self-driving for visitors unfamiliar with mountain roads, and GTour arranges a private driver or guide for the day. Weather in mid-May at altitude can be cool and changeable even when Batumi is warm, so visitors should bring layers and a waterproof jacket. Accommodation in Khulo itself is limited, so advance booking is advisable, or a day trip from Batumi is a practical alternative. Modest dress is appropriate at the event given the mixed community, and cash is useful since card facilities are scarce in highland villages.

Combine it with

Didacharoba pairs naturally with a broader visit to Adjara, combining the highland festival with Batumi’s coastline and botanical garden. Travelers continuing east can connect through the mountain passes toward Samtskhe-Javakheti for the cave monastery of Vardzia, or northeast toward Imereti for Kutaisi and the Prometheus and Sataplia caves.

Questions travellers ask

Is Didacharoba a religious ceremony or a secular festival?

It is primarily a secular community festival named for a traditional association with St Andrew’s mission to the Black Sea coast. There is no formal liturgy attached to the day at Didachara itself; the religious reference survives mainly in the festival’s name and local memory.

Do I need to book tickets in advance?

No ticketing system exists; the festival is an open-air village event free to attend. Advance arrangements are more important for transport and accommodation than for entry.

Can women participate in or watch the wrestling?

Women and children attend as spectators throughout the day; the wrestling bouts themselves are traditionally contested by men, following the long-standing format of chidaoba.

What should I wear?

Comfortable, modest clothing suited to an outdoor mountain setting is appropriate; sturdy footwear is useful given the unpaved terrain around the festival field.

Is Khulo accessible by public transport?

Marshrutka minibuses run between Batumi and Khulo, but schedules are limited and may not align well with festival timings, so many visitors prefer a private driver for the day.

Is there food and drink for sale, or should I bring my own?

Local families and vendors typically sell Adjarian dishes and drinks at the festival site, though options are informal rather than restaurant-style.

How does Didacharoba differ from Alaverdoba in Kakheti?

Alaverdoba is a church feast centered on the cathedral and its liturgical calendar, while Didacharoba is a secular highland gathering built around sport and feasting, with only a loose historical link to a saint’s name.

What time should I arrive to see the main events?

Arriving by mid-morning allows time to see the wrestling matches at midday and the horse races in the afternoon, before the feasting and music that continue into the evening.

Sources

• Georgia Travel (Georgian National Tourism Administration)
• Go Batumi tourism portal
• Visit Batumi tourism portal
• Georgian Patriarchate
• UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
• 8. Agenda.ge report on Didacharoba celebrations