Date | Title | Georgian | Brief description |
Jan. 1 | New Year’s | Ahali tseli (ახალი წელი) | Needs no introduction |
Jan. 2 | The day after | Bedoba (ბედოობა) | How you spend Bedoba (ბედოობა) defines your year. Best spent at home with family and without any quarrels or contention |
Jan. 7 | Christmas | Shoba (შობა) | Georgia celebrates Christmas according to the Julian calendar along with Serbia, Jerusalem, Russia, and a few other Orthodox jurisdictions. Liturgy is celebrated at midnight |
Jan. 19 | Theophany | Natlisgeba (ნათლისღება) | Theophany, known as Epiphany in the Western tradition (ნათლისღება), is, among other things, a day of mass baptisms |
March 3 | Mother’s Day | დედის დღე | Georgian Mother’s Day (დედის დღე), established by the first president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, in 1991 |
March 8 | International Women’s Day | ქალთა საერთაშორისო დღე | International Women’s Day (ქალთა საერთაშორისო დღე) has been drawing attention to women’s rights in Georgia since 1996 |
April 9 | National Unity Day | ეროვნული ერთიანობის დღე | Honors those who died for their homeland. On this day in 1989, Soviet troops entered Tbilisi to suppress a rally, killing protesters and catalyzing the independence movement and leading to the eventual Restoration of Georgia’s Independence on April 9, 1991 |
— | Easter holidays | Ahdgoma (აღდგომა) | Starts on Good Friday and includes Monday, when everyone in the entire country is out visiting the graves of their dearly departed |
May 9 | Victory over Fascism Day | ფაშიზმზე გამარჯვების დღე | Victory over Fascism Day (ფაშიზმზე გამარჯვების დღე). According to the Georgia State Veterans Affairs Service, up to 700,000 Georgians participated in World War II, 400,000 laying down their lives. In 2023, 114 veterans remained, the oldest 104 |
May 12 (two holidays at once) | St. Andrew the Apostle | ანდრია პირველწოდებულის ხსენების დღეა | During his extensive missionary travels, St. Andrew visited many countries; this date marks his entry into Georgia and is unique to the Georgian Church |
May 12 | Day of the Mother of God and Georgia | ყოვლადწმინდა ღვთისმშობლისადმი საქართველოს წილხვდომილობის დღე | Celebrated since 2019 on the initiative of the Patriarchate and in accordance with the belief that the country has been under the special protection of the Mother of God for more than two thousand years, a fact that has influenced Georgia’s culture and identity |
May 17 | Day of Family Purity and Respect for Parents | ოჯახის სიწმინდისა და მშობლების პატივისცემის დღე | This new holiday dedicated to the family will be celebrated for the first time in 2025 |
May 26 | Georgian Independence Day | დამოუკიდებლობის დღე | Specifically the independence first declared in 1918 following the collapse of the Russian Empire. New recruits take their military oaths and concerts and festive events abound |
Aug. 28 | Dormition | Mariamoba (მარიამობა) | Begins with an all-night vigil on the eve of the feast |
Oct. 14 | Feast of the Tunic of the Lord | Mtskhetoba (მცხეთობის) | Also known as Mtskhetoba (მცხეთობის) for the ancient capital of Georgia, Mtskheta, where the Tunic is preserved in Svetitskhoveli Cathedral |
Nov. 23 | St. George’s Day | Giorgoba (გიორგობა) | In honor of Georgia’s patron saint |