2018 Tbilisi Student Festival
The 2018 Tbilisi Student Festival came to an end on Tuesday, December 18. The closing ceremony of the festival was attended by Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, Deputy Mayor Sophio Khuntsaria, Head of Tbilisi City Hall’s Culture, Education, Sport and Youth Affairs Department Irakli Gvilava, students, international and local student organizations and university professors and rectors.
The festival was organized and financed by Tbilisi City Hall. It included several sports and cultural events around the city. More than 30,000 students from 23 public and private higher education universities participated in this year’s festival events. The festival aimed to promote a healthy lifestyle and the value of education while developing a sense of community among students from different universities.
At the closing ceremony, Mayor Kaladze addressed the organizers and participants of the festival, saying “First of all, I want to thank students and professors for their participation in the festival. I also want to thank the organizers. It is very important to hold similar events throughout the year. Of course, I am glad that [we could organize] such a big event for young people...that has not been held in recent years. In the next few years, the festival will be even bigger and more effective. The Mayor of Tbilisi guarantees this.”
Kaladze also spoke about the importance of education and a healthy lifestyle and wished the young participants success, personally and academically.
“We, of course, need educated youth, our future generations, and each one of you is important for the Georgia of tomorrow. It's the attitude, the emotion, the spirit that we feel here today – our country needs [to explore] every direction and young people play an exceptional role in these things. I want everybody to see that I'm ready to implement all the projects in your best interest and to support your wellbeing, to stand with you, protect the rights of young people, and implement projects that will be important for Georgia tomorrow. We, young people, all together, must tell all of Georgia, every generation of people, how important it is to live in the spirit of a healthy life,” said Kaladze.
This was the third year of the festival. Co-ed tournaments were held this year for six sports – mini soccer, volleyball, tennis, street basketball, table tennis and bowling. This year a cultural section was added to the events as part of the International Festival of Tbilisi Amateur Student Theaters “Nighabi 2018” (MASK 2018). MASK is an annual festival competition where theater troupes from different universities perform. The festival aims to give young people a platform for expressing their creativity, spend free time positively and productively, to communicate, share experiences and develop future professional relationships, to promote the arts, and to establish friendly relationships between Georgian and international students.
Over the past three years, the festival has played a role in popularizing healthy lifestyles and an active and diverse student life, and in motivating students to express their talents.
By Samantha Guthrie
Image source: Tbilisi City Hall