New Year traditions in Georgia
Students of Khashuri Public school #1 Teacher: N. Dabrundashvili 2020
People in Georgia love their holidays and what is most important, know how to organize them so beautifully, deliciously and joyfully, that you enjoy every minute of the festival, and then look forward to the next one.
The main New Year's attribute is the Christmas tree. In Georgia, in addition to the Christmas tree each family decorates chichilaki - a homemade wooden Christmas tree. Chichilaki are decorated with dried fruit and traditionally burned after the New Year, because they believe that together with its smoke all troubles will be gone.
The New Year's table in Georgia should be not just beautiful and richly covered, but literally burst with all sorts of dishes. Here you have satsivi, juicy pork, and spicy marinades, melt-in-yourmouth khachapuri, several kinds of homemade cheese, and sweet churchkhela. There are courses in Georgia, without which any New Year's table can not do. They are roasted young pork that symbolizes wellbeing, honey gozinaki (roasted nuts), for life to be sweet as honey. In general, the more sweets on the New Year's table - the sweeter will be the year.
The main item on the table is of course a wonderful wine that flows just like water on this night, to the clink of glasses and eloquent toasts. And of course, what would the meal be without songs and dances.
Georgians also have their own version of Santa Claus. Like Santa he has a long white beard, but he wears traditional Georgian clothing, all in white. The children wait for him to bring them presents. They call him ‘tovlis babua’ or ‘grandfather of the snow’.
On the stroke of midnight,flashing multicolored fireworks light up the sky. Someone might say that this custom is quite modern but for Georgians it has an ancient origin. They believe that every shot hits the evil spirit, and in the New Year good will conquer evil.
And there are a lot of such interesting Christmas traditions. Here is another very curious one. It's called "Mekvle" and still popular in the Georgian villages. "Mekvle" - is the man who first crosses the threshold of the house in the New Year. He can bring both happiness and unhappiness. Villagers already know who are the people with "happy feet" and invite them into the house in advance, and those people present the hosts a basket with wine, sweets and boiled pork, wishing them happiness in the coming New Year.
Merry Christmas and
2021 Dear Friends !!!