Tbilisoba and the city festivals of Georgia: dates, what happens and where to stand

Tbilisoba, the Tbilisi city festival, falls on a weekend in October (in recent years the city has favoured the second half of the month, sometimes stretching into a ten-day programme), and is confirmed each year by Tbilisi City Hall at tbilisi.gov.ge. It fills Rike Park, the Old Town streets, Agmashenebeli Avenue and the riverside with free concerts, folk dance, craft stalls, church bell recitals and wine and food tasting, and it is the single best weekend of the year to see ordinary Tbilisi families, not only visitors, out celebrating their city. Because the exact Saturday and Sunday shift year to year and are usually announced only a few weeks ahead, the only safe rule for 2026 and 2027 is to check the municipal page before booking flights around it.

Tbilisoba is the best known of Georgia’s city festivals, but it is not the only one. Kutaisi, Batumi and the wine regions each run their own calendar of civic and cultural events, from the spring New Wine Festival in Tbilisi’s Mtatsminda Park to the Tsinandali classical-music festival among the vineyards of Kakheti, the Black Sea Jazz Festival on the Batumi seafront, and film festivals in both the capital and the coast. This guide sets out what each event involves, roughly when it happens, and where to stand to get the best of it, with the official pages to check for firm 2026 and 2027 dates, since municipal and ministry calendars are the only reliable source and they do change.

Tbilisoba: history, dates and the shape of the weekend

Tbilisoba began in 1979 as a Soviet-era city holiday marking the legendary founding of Tbilisi by King Vakhtang Gorgasali, and it has survived every political change since as a genuinely popular, free festival. In most recent years it has run on a weekend between roughly 10 and 25 October, occasionally extended into a longer city-wide programme either side of the main two days. Because today’s date is late October 2026, this year’s edition has most likely already taken place by the time you read this; for the 2027 dates, check the city’s official announcement, usually published in September, at tbilisi.gov.ge.

The programme typically includes an opening ceremony and folk concert on the main stage at Rike Park, smaller stages and craft fairs along Agmashenebeli Avenue and in the Old Town, a wine and food street running through Sioni and Erekle II streets, open-air exhibitions, and church bell concerts from Sioni Cathedral and Metekhi. Expect the Old Town to be pedestrianised and crowded through both days, with family entertainment concentrated in the afternoon and concerts running into the evening.

Where to stand: the best vantage points

• Rike Park, by the river below the Peace Bridge, for the main stage and evening headline acts.
• Erekle II and Sioni streets in the Old Town for wine stalls, qvevri tastings and craft vendors.
• Agmashenebeli Avenue for the folk-dance processions and family stalls, generally calmer than Rike.
• The Narikala funicular station or Mtatsminda Park for a panoramic view of the Old Town crowds and fireworks, if a finale is scheduled.
• Dry Bridge market, which often extends its usual antiques and crafts stalls for the weekend.

For a first orientation walk before the crowds build, our Old Tbilisi Walking Tour — 3 Hours with a Licensed Guide covers the Old Town and sulphur bath quarter where much of the festival concentrates, and a Supra Evening with a tamada is a good way to round off a Tbilisoba day with Georgian food and polyphonic song.

Kutaisoba and the other city days

Kutaisi marks its own city day, Kutaisoba, which in recent years has fallen in spring rather than autumn; dates and programme are confirmed by the city’s tourism office, so check kutaisi.travel before planning a visit around it. The festival typically centres on the Rioni riverbanks and the Green Bazaar, with concerts, a crafts market and events built around Bagrati Cathedral. Batumi does not run a single equivalent “city day” on the same model, but its festival calendar is dense through the warmer months, described below.

Batumi’s festival season

Batumi’s festivals cluster in the resort season, from June through September, when the Black Sea coast is warmest and the Boulevard is busiest. The Black Sea Jazz Festival brings international and Georgian musicians to open-air stages, usually in July, with tickets and the confirmed programme published at blackseajazz.ge. Later in the season, the Batumi International Art-house Film Festival (BIAFF) screens independent and auteur cinema at venues across the city, typically in September; check dates at biaff.org. Outside these named events, Batumi’s Boulevard and Piazza host smaller concerts and open-air markets through the summer, confirmed closer to the date by the municipality at batumi.ge or the tourism portal gobatumi.com. Our Batumi Old Town and Boulevard Walk and Batumi Half-Day — Old Town, Boulevard and the Botanical Garden both work well paired with an evening festival concert.

Wine festivals: New Wine, Rtveli and Tsinandali

Georgia’s wine calendar has three distinct moments. The New Wine Festival, organised by the National Wine Agency, is usually held in Tbilisi’s Mtatsminda Park in May, celebrating the previous year’s harvest with tastings from hundreds of small and large producers; confirm the date at wine.gov.ge. Rtveli, the grape harvest itself, is not a single ticketed festival but a countrywide tradition running roughly from early September to late October depending on the region and grape variety, centred on Kakheti; our Rtveli — the Harvest Week in Kakheti, 5 Days and the shorter Rtveli — Wine Harvest in Kakheti (3 Days, September–October) are built around this window and include hands-on picking and qvevri pressing with family cellars. The Tsinandali Festival combines classical music with the wine estates of Kakheti, typically over several days in September at the Alexander Chavchavadze estate; the confirmed programme and dates are published at tsinandalifestival.ge.

Jazz and film festivals

Tbilisi’s main jazz event, the Tbilisi Jazz Festival, usually runs in autumn, with past editions clustering in October and November; the organisers publish venues and the lineup at tbilisijazz.com. On the film side, the Tbilisi International Film Festival (TIFF) has typically taken place in December, screening at cinemas across the capital, with the official programme at tbilisifilmfestival.ge. Batumi’s BIAFF, described above, is the main art-house equivalent on the coast. All three festivals set exact dates only a few months ahead, so treat the months given here as a historical pattern rather than a guarantee for 2026 or 2027.

Music, open-air and running events

Tbilisi Open Air, the city’s main outdoor music festival with international and regional acts, has generally run in June; check the current lineup and dates at tbilisiopenair.com. The Tbilisi Marathon, which closes major streets for runners of several distances, has typically been held in autumn, often close to the Tbilisoba period; confirm the route and date at tbilisimarathon.ge. Together with Tbilisoba, these events mean autumn weekends in Tbilisi can carry road closures and full hotels in the Old Town, so check both calendars before fixing non-flexible travel dates.

Planning around a festival weekend

Book accommodation early for any weekend that coincides with Tbilisoba, the Jazz Festival or the Marathon, since Old Town guesthouses fill quickly and prices rise. If you want a guided introduction that times naturally with festival crowds, our Tbilisi in a Day — Old Town, Sulphur Baths, Mtatsminda and the Markets or the shorter Tbilisi Photo Walk — Old Town to Mtatsminda at Dusk both work well in the late afternoon before evening concerts begin. For wine-season visitors, a Tbilisi Natural Wine Evening — Three Bars, Twelve Wines is a compact way to taste widely without committing to a full day in Kakheti.

Practical summary

• Tbilisoba: confirm the exact weekend each year at tbilisi.gov.ge, usually announced in September for an October date.
• Stand at Rike Park for the main stage, Sioni and Erekle II streets for wine and crafts, Agmashenebeli Avenue for family events.
• Kutaisoba: date set by the city, typically spring; verify at kutaisi.travel before travelling around it.
• Batumi: Black Sea Jazz Festival (July) and BIAFF (September) are the two named events; check batumi.ge or gobatumi.com for the wider summer programme.
• Wine calendar: New Wine Festival in Tbilisi (May), Rtveli harvest across Kakheti (September–October), Tsinandali Festival (September).
• Jazz and film: Tbilisi Jazz Festival (autumn), Tbilisi International Film Festival (December), BIAFF in Batumi (September) — all confirm exact dates only a few months ahead.
• Book Old Town accommodation early for any weekend overlapping Tbilisoba, the Jazz Festival or the Tbilisi Marathon.
• Always verify against the official page before locking in non-refundable travel, since municipal and ministry calendars change yearly.

Sources

• Kutaisi tourism portal
• Batumi tourism portal
• National Wine Agency
• Tbilisi International Film Festival
• Tbilisoba Official Overview (Tbilisi City Hall)
• Tbilisoba 2023 Program and Events (Agenda.ge)
• Georgian Polyphonic Singing – Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO ICH)
• Batumi Summer Festivals Guide (Adjara Tourism/GoBatumi)