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Tbilisoba -The annual festival committee, in the capitol of Tbilisi, worked to improve the format this autumn, after 35 years. The winner of a public competition to rejuvenate the
Festival planned for more cultural events be part
of the Festival, not just drinking in the streets.(I sort of liked the wine tasting, since it is a rarity here) First place winner Nino
Lelashvili was
chosen by the Tbilisi City
Hall commission and online voting. By winning the
top prize she also received 14,000 GEL. ($7000 dollars - really good money here!) Lelashvili recently finished a Master’s degree in Marketing Management at the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University in the Netherlands and has since returned to Georgia. I point this out because it is indicative of the many young people are being educated all over the world, yet seem loyal and ready to come back to Georgia. I like the diversity of events at the Tbilisoba. Game tables everywhere, gymnastics, dancing, music and performances, craft booths, new food sample booths, and international food court.
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| Above right was one of the ancient Queen's palaces |
This 16 year old girl challenged seven chess players, at the same time. And she beat them all. It was amazing to watch. And sometimes she would instruct and not allow her opponents to make a bad move. I also played chess with a local young man a while back. He was world champ when he was 9, for that age group. I learned so much. Chess is very popular here. And good to see the girls compete as well.
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| gymnastic demonstration |
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Nardi, or backgammon is a popular, and testosterone driven game in Georgia.
Who knows why? I played a fellow and he wouldn't even compete.
Like he was being polite by not playing aggressively. How boring!
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I love how they celebrate fresh fruit and
vegetables. Kids even love raw broccoli - a rare treat. |
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| Dance demonstrations |
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Peace Bridge - a very modern design surrounded by 9 + centuries of
historic buildings. Oh well. The past president, saakashvili, named this
for the crossroads from the old way to Peace and liberty. |
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| More games for everyone to play |
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| Street Vendors |
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| kids were entertained all day |
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Food booths from many nations were on the river walk:
Georgian pork BBQ, Israeli, Ukraine, Greek,
Kazakhstan, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Turkish |
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| My Art-Koda Social Enterprise colleagues: Ilia and Nunu |
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| a successful and fun day |
