The New Year Tree will be lit up in Tbilisi on Thursday, December 17. Such a statement made today Kakha Kaladze.

“The lighting up of the tree, which customarily signals the official start of weeks of combined New Year’s Eve and Christmas celebrations in Georgia, will be broadcast live on television.

With the pandemic situation curtailing plans for the usual scale of celebrations in Tbilisi, the city will host a number of live music shows - also set for live broadcast - without the customary Christmas village, which is usually set up on First Republic Square. Tbilisi city Hall had decided to abandon plans for setting up the village, as the compact arrangement of its stalls and other structures would heighten risks of virus transmission on the square.

Instead, we will use expenses set aside for the village to provide relief to socially underprivileged families amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis”, - said the Mayor of Tbilisi.