Easter Sunday in Georgia

Meaning and the Orthodox calendar

Easter is a major religious holiday for Orthodox Christians in Georgia. It celebrates Christ’s resurrection and marks the end of the Lent fasting period; its date changes from year to year according to the Orthodox calendar.[2][3]

A four-day public holiday

Georgia’s Labour Code names Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday as movable public holidays. It gives Easter Monday the designation All Souls’ Day. Work performed on these statutory holidays is treated as overtime under the Code.[1]

Government institutions and most private-sector organisations, including banks, generally do not work on public holidays. Restaurants, cafés, tourist agencies, shops and markets can be busy, so check the opening hours of specific places.[4]

Church services and family customs

Many believers spend Easter night at church and return home in the morning. Families commonly share a meal around midday, beginning with the greeting “Christ is risen!” and its response, “Truly he is risen!” A red-egg striking game may follow the greetings.[3]

Red eggs and paska, a festive Easter cake, are prominent foods. Eggs are traditionally dyed on Good Friday with rose madder roots and onion leaves. The Easter table also features regional variations, including lamb in eastern Georgia and nazuki sweet bread in Kartli.[2][3]

Regional practices and Easter Monday

Customs differ among Georgia’s regions. Chona, in which a group visits village households with Easter songs and hymns, is still performed in many parts of the country. Regional foods and practices include wheat porridge and lavashi in Racha and cheese-and-egg dumplings in Samegrelo.[2]

Easter Monday has a particular place in family observances: it is common for people to visit relatives’ graves, pray for the dead and roll an egg over a grave. The day is both part of the statutory holiday period and a day of remembrance.[1][2]