Public holidays in Georgia 2026–2027: what closes, what gets busy and the dates to plan around

Georgia’s 2026 and 2027 calendars carry fifteen official public holidays, split between a long, closure-heavy fortnight around Orthodox Christmas and New Year, a four-day Easter weekend that moves with the Orthodox calculation, and a scatter of single-day religious and national dates through spring, summer and autumn. Banks, government offices, schools and most private businesses close on these days; supermarkets, pharmacies and tourist-facing restaurants mostly stay open, though hours shorten and some museums close on 1 January, 7 January and Easter Sunday specifically. None of this is exotic to plan around once you have the list, and the rules are set out in Georgian law, so always check the current wording at matsne.gov.ge before a trip that falls on a borderline date.

The bigger planning problem is not the holidays themselves but two unofficial seasons that fill hotels faster than any public holiday does: the New Year to Orthodox Christmas window, when Tbilisi empties toward Gudauri and ski hotels sell out weeks ahead, and rtveli, the September-October grape harvest in Kakheti, which is not a holiday at all but the single busiest stretch of the Georgian year for wine-country accommodation. Add Tbilisoba, the capital’s October festival, and you have the three dates serious travel planning in Georgia actually turns on. This guide sets out all of them.

Georgia’s public holidays, 2026 and 2027

Orthodox Christmas falls on 7 January every year because the Georgian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar for its fixed feasts. Easter moves, calculated by the Orthodox method, which usually puts it one to five weeks after the Western date. The table below gives both years; treat the movable dates as indicative and confirm the final liturgical calendar with the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate closer to the time, since the Easter computation is occasionally revised in official announcements.

This list is the one used for the official public sector calendar; private employers follow it in practice even though the underlying legal text sits across the Labour Code and the standalone holidays law, both searchable at matsne.gov.ge.

Orthodox Christmas, New Year and Epiphany: the longest closure window

1-2 January and 7 January are statutory closures, but in practice most Georgian offices, many shops and a good share of restaurants run on reduced hours or close entirely from 31 December through 8 January. Government services, banks and courier deliveries stop for the whole stretch; expect delays if you need visa paperwork, bank transfers or parcel collection in this period, and plan around it rather than through it. The night of 6-7 January brings the Alilo procession in Tbilisi and other cities, a large public event worth building an evening around rather than driving through; 19 January, Epiphany, adds open-air water blessings at rivers and lakes, which close some central streets for a few hours. Travellers wanting the full festive arc without guessing at opening hours can book it as a package: see Orthodox Christmas in Tbilisi and New Year in Georgia, both run as fixed-departure private tours with hotel closures and procession timings already worked into the itinerary.

Easter week: Good Friday to Easter Monday

The four days from Good Friday to Easter Monday are a genuine long weekend. Government offices and banks close on the Sunday and Monday as a minimum; many close the Friday too. Churches run extended services from Thursday evening, culminating in midnight liturgy into Sunday morning, and Mtskheta, Gelati and Svetitskhoveli draw large crowds for the main services. Restaurants generally stay open and are often busier than usual for family lunches, but museums attached to monasteries may run reduced hours on the Sunday itself. If Easter falls inside a planned itinerary, build in slack on travel days either side rather than scheduling border crossings or long drives on the Sunday morning.

Independence Day and National Unity Day

26 May, Independence Day, is Georgia’s principal secular holiday, marking the 1918 declaration, and it is marked with a military parade and public events in Tbilisi plus fireworks in most regional centres; central streets close for several hours around the parade route and traffic diversions are posted in advance. 9 April, National Unity Day, commemorates the 1989 Tbilisi events and is observed more solemnly, with wreath-laying at the Heroes’ Square memorial; government offices close but the day carries none of the festival atmosphere of 26 May. Both are full statutory closures for banks and public administration.

Tbilisoba and rtveli: busy, but not holidays

Two of the dates travellers ask about most are not on the public holiday list at all. Tbilisoba, the capital’s city-day festival, usually runs over a weekend in late September or October with concerts, open-air markets and folk performances across Old Town; exact dates are set annually by City Hall, so check tbilisi.gov.ge each year rather than assuming the same weekend. Rtveli, the Kakheti grape harvest, runs roughly mid-September to mid-October depending on the vintage and is the single busiest season for wine-country guesthouses and qvevri cellars, well ahead of any public holiday in bed demand. Neither day involves bank or office closures, but both tighten hotel availability in Tbilisi and Telavi respectively, often weeks out. Our Rtveli — the Harvest Week in Kakheti and the shorter Rtveli — Wine Harvest in Kakheti are built around this window and are worth booking early rather than close to the date.

What actually closes, and what stays open

• Banks and government offices: closed on every date in the table above; expect branch closures from the afternoon before a multi-day holiday too.
• Supermarkets and pharmacies: mostly open on all but 1 January and 7 January, when hours shorten considerably.
• Museums: the National Museum network and most regional museums close on 1 January and 7 January; many run reduced Sunday-style hours on Easter Sunday and 26 May. Always check the specific museum’s page via museum.ge or heritagesites.ge before visiting on a holiday date.
• Restaurants and cafés in Tbilisi, Batumi and Kutaisi: generally open through all holidays, often fuller than usual, especially on the evenings before 1 January, Easter and 26 May.
• Intercity trains and buses: Georgian Railway and most minibus routes run close to normal schedules, though seats sell out fastest around 31 December to 2 January; check current timetables at railway.ge.
• Mountain roads: the Georgian Military Highway over the Jvari Pass and other high routes can close temporarily for snow clearance in the Christmas-New Year window regardless of the calendar date; check georoad.gov.ge or our own road-status page before any Kazbegi or Gudauri drive in winter.

Where it gets busiest, and what it costs

Gudauri over New Year is Georgia’s clearest case of holiday-driven demand outstripping supply: ski hotels along the main ridge sell out from late November for the 28 December to 3 January week, and daily lift and rental prices on the open market rise accordingly, though exact figures change season to season and should be checked directly with the resort via gudauri.travel. Our fixed-price Gudauri Ski Package — 5 Nights with Transfers and Ski Pass runs at the same published rate regardless of the calendar, from €1,390 per person for two travellers, which is the main advantage of booking a package rather than chasing market rates during the holiday peak. Kakheti during rtveli shows a gentler but real version of the same pattern: guesthouse rooms in Sighnaghi and Telavi fill from early September, and private cellar visits need booking days rather than hours ahead. Tbilisi itself rarely sells out completely over any single public holiday, but the week bridging New Year and Orthodox Christmas is the exception, with city-centre hotels routinely full from 30 December.

Practical summary

• Fifteen statutory public holidays in both 2026 and 2027; banks, offices and schools close, most shops and restaurants stay open with shorter hours.
• Orthodox Christmas is fixed at 7 January; Easter 2026 falls 12 April and Easter 2027 falls 2 May, both movable and worth reconfirming with patriarchate.ge closer to the date.
• The real closure-heavy window is 31 December to 8 January, not any single day; expect slow banking, courier and government services throughout.
• Tbilisoba (late Sept/October) and rtveli (mid-Sept to mid-Oct) are not public holidays but are the two busiest booking windows of the year outside Christmas-New Year.
• Book Gudauri for New Year and Kakheti guesthouses for rtveli several weeks ahead; fixed-price packages avoid the open-market price spikes of those weeks.
• Check road status before any winter mountain drive and museum hours before visiting on 1 January, 7 January or Easter Sunday specifically.

Sources

• Law and holidays database
• Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate
• Tbilisi City Hall
• Road status, Georgian Roads Department
• Georgian Railway schedules
• National Statistics Office of Georgia
• Georgia's national tourism site