President Kavelashvili: ‘Shuamtoba celebration shows Georgia will never fade’

Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili has hailed the Shuamtoba mountain festival in Beshumi as a “powerful symbol” of Georgia’s cultural continuity, saying the presence of both elders and youth at the celebration proved the nation “will never fade.”

Attending the traditional highland festival alongside Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the Government of Adjara, and other national and local officials, President Kavelashvili delivered a message of unity, pride, and generational legacy.

“It is a great honour to be with you today. Shuamtoba is preserved by the proud people of Upper Adjara, and it’s a celebration that unites mountain and lowland, young and old,” the President said. “Seeing so many young people here alongside our elders is a living continuation of tradition - it means Georgia will never perish.”

Kavelashvili described Shuamtoba as a “vivid example” of how values, traditions, love, and joy should be passed on to future generations. “It’s our duty to preserve such festivals so that our youth understand where we come from and what it means to be Georgian,” he said.

The President also pledged to support efforts that spread the spirit of Shuamtoba across the entire country, calling the festival’s joyful and unifying atmosphere “contagious in the best sense.”