The Winter Holidays

in Georgia
Christmas is the holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is an international holiday
valued by many people. It is a time of enjoying, giving, receiving, and, of course, eating. It has
become a holiday celebrated by people of all religions and ethnicities. However, we in Georgia
celebrate Christmas, but not as grandly as people in other countries do. Orthodox Christmas
takes place on January 7th, and we mostly just light a candle, pray, and eat good food. Here, the
big holiday is New Year’s Eve, and, since it is less of a religious holiday, more people celebrate
it than would celebrate Christmas.
Georgians have many traditional New Year’s foods. In the mountainous north, Khinkali
is eaten on New Year’s, while, in the south, roasted pig and Khachapuri are eaten. Spinach
Phkhali is a spinach salad commonly garnished with pomegranate seeds. Nigvziani Badrijani is
fried eggplant stuffed with walnut filling. Phkhali and Badrijani are often paired and eaten on
New Year’s. Churchkhela is a dessert made of different types of nuts strung up on a string and
dipped in Tatara, which is young wine thickened with flour. In Kakheti, people prepare
Kakhetian Churchkhela, a darker type of churchkhela that is commonly made with walnuts and
is stronger than its western counterpart, which is commonly lighter, less concentrated and made
with hazelnuts. A dessert similar to Churchkhela is eaten all over Georgia. It is known as
Gozinaq and is made of nuts covered in boiled honey and sugar. Pelamushi is very similar to
Tatara. It is grape juice thickened with corn flour and is commonly more concentrated than
Tatara.
The food is good, but it’s the activities that make this day special. Mekvle is a term
referring to the first guest at a New Year’s feast. Usually, the Mekvle would bring sweets and
snacks to the family he/she was visiting and bless them. This tradition stays true all throughout
Georgia. In the northern regions of Georgia, a character called Grandpa Frost was thought to
visit kids and bring them presents on New Year’s Eve. He was described as a tall big man with a
long white beard or mustache, who wore a white chokha, a white fur coat and a white Svanetian
or Pshavian hat. The Slavic Father Frost, which was thought to do the exact same thing, probably
influenced the Northerners, as some Rus and Cherkess tribes bordered the Northern regions of
Georgia. While children were distracted, the parents would sneak off and fill one room with
presents. They would then call the kids, who would thank Grandpa Frost and start opening the
presents. People would also take cheese and bread to freshwater lakes, throw the bread in the
water and tell it “Water, I brought you food. Please send good fortune with me”. They would
then take the water home, which would be placed on the dinner table, along with Khinkali. This
was thought to ensure good fortune for the family. In the South, Old Vasil was thought to bring
joy to kids. He was based on the former patriarch of Caesaria, St. Basil the Great. The
decorations there were also influenced by St. Basil.
 The Chichilak was made to resemble the beard of St. Basil. Every New Year people from
the southern and central regions of Georgia would make chichilaks and decorate them with fruits
to honor the goddess of fertility and ensure a bountiful harvest. On January 20th, these
Chichilaks were burnt to symbolize the passing of the former year’s sorrows. In the north,
however, people decorated their houses with fresh fruits, leaves and freshly baked bread instead
of Chichilaks. The decorations were thought to honor the gods of fertility and ensure a bountiful
harvest, just like the Chichilak.
Georgia is a country that has stayed faithful to its traditions for millennia. Traditions are
important to us Georgians, as it helps us reconnect to our loved ones and ancestry. Every holiday
is special to us in one way or another. What are your home country’s holiday traditions?