Surami town in central Georgia hosts traditional holiday dedicated to iconic Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka

Georgia’s central Surami town on the weekend hosted a traditional holiday dedicated to Lesya Ukrainka, one of Ukrainian literature’s foremost writers. 

Both Georgian and Ukrainian nationals and diplomats from the Ukrainian Embassy in Georgia participated in the event marked in the city since 1952, placing a wreath at the poet’s memorial. 

Students from the 3rd grade of the Surami public school named after Lesya Ukrainka read out poems in Ukrainian, while folk and pop choirs and groups in the town performed for the audience. 

A delegation from the city of Obukhiv, Kyiv region arrived to Surami at the invitation of Khashuri municipal Government to celebrate the date, and they handed gifts to Lesya Ukrainka Museum, representatives of the Embassy of Ukraine in Georgia and the Lesya Ukrainka School in Surami. 

The first grand celebration of ‘’Lesiaoba” was held in Surami in 1952 with a large delegation from Ukraine. The initiator of the establishment of this holiday was a well-known Georgian writer Giorgi Leonidze. He was supported by a famous Georgian actor Nato Vachnadze and the entire Georgian intelligentsia. Lesya Ukrainka has become a symbol of friendship between Georgia and Ukraine since then.