GR Fest changes location due to protest of local population and clerics
By Mariam Chanishvili
Monday, August 5
Georgian Rave - the Electronic Music Festival organizers released a statement saying that received a protest letter from part of Kobuleti population and clerics.
The festival was supposed to take on August 10 in a centuries-old castle on a cliff.
According to the organizers of the GR fest, the main demand of 160 signatories of the letter is not to hold a festival in the Petra Fortress area.
The authors of the letter say that they are against the ‘Kazantip type of festival taking place at the historic site of Petra Fortress’ in the village of Tsikhisdziri, and say clergy are also aware of their protest.
“These people are against the progress in our country; club and festival tourism plays an important and crucial role for the Georgian economy, with dignified media coverage of our country’s success in this area. Plenty of people arrive to attend a particular event. We hope that the change of location will not hinder us and we will continue to dance in one fist,” noted festival organizers.
Petra was a fortified town on the eastern Black Sea coast, in what is now western Georgia. In the 6th century, under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, it served as an important Eastern Roman outpost in the Caucasus and, due to its strategic location, became a battleground of the 541–562 Lazic War between Rome and Sasanian Persia.
GR Festival is supposed to have two stages - main and art stage, featuring the following artists: Kavel, ZAPA, Orim, Giorgi Devadze, Yanamaste, NEWA, Boyd Shidt, Fabrizio Lapiana, Sally Gulordava, Levan Samnashvili, and Gvantsa Aphkaidze.
The contrast between the festival and its location has caused major excitement and emotions among artists and the public.
“GR fest is for people who love electronic music, for the artists who are popularising Techno music in the regions and for tourists that visit, this beautiful Georgia,” reads the description of GR Festival.
The festival is held within the frames of Check In Georgia. Tickets are available online on tkt.ge.
It is noteworthy that along with Kyiv, Leipzig, Lisbon, Belgrade, Bogota, Warsaw, and Bristol clubs, Georgia’s capital Tbilisi and its techno party scene have been featured on the list of must-visit places.
