Bedoba: Georgia’s Lucky Day

Today is a special day in Georgia.

The second day of January is known as ‘Bedoba’ – and no, that doesn’t mean that we spend the whole day in bed. While that sounds like a great way to spend a cold winter’s day during a global pandemic, it’s completely the opposite. Bedoba is just one component in the bonanza of celebrations for the New Year in Georgia.

One of the things that surprised me about Georgia is how big New Year’s Eve is in the country, especially here in the capital city, Tbilisi. 

After the mammoth fireworks demonstrations of 31 December (and we’re talking mammoth) the New Year celebrations and shenanigans hang around until 12 January. That’s not because the Georgians are a nation of unstoppable party animals (except, they sort of are) but rather because they’re juggling two different calendars at the same time.

New Year in Georgia

Sliding back to a week or so before Bedoba: the typical Western Christmas isn’t much of a thing in Georgia at all. As an Orthodox nation, Georgia follows the Julian calendar which means that the Georgian Christmas is observed on 7 January. 

Usually, offices, shops and schools open as normal on 24 and 25 December. Although the panorama is a little different this year what with the global pandemic and the current lockdown meaning everything – with the exception of grocery shops and the equally essential nail salons – is closed. 

What makes this all somewhat confusing is that Georgia celebrates both the Gregorian New Year (31 December) and the Julian New Year (14 January). The former is a much larger affair while I understand that the 14th is observed with less excitement. And it turns out even a pandemic couldn’t put a stop to the Georgian-Gregorian New Year!

Similar to most capital cities around the world, much of the activity in Tbilisi revolves around the midnight fireworks. And, oh my, these fireworks are a massive affair! I’ve never visited a country where fireworks are the very fabric of the culture as they are in Georgia. It appears those nightly detonations are just part of the warm up for the Gregorian New Year. 

Supra

So fireworks – and yes, alcohol – Georgia is after all the birthplace of wine and chacha!

But more than a drinking party the New Year celebrations run far deeper in Georgia as families and friends gather, and (sometimes) strangers are ushered to the table to feast ‘supra‘ style and raise an endless supply of chacha and look ahead to the New Year.

Georgian New Year places far more emphasis on the food aspect than we have back in the United Kingdom. The Georgian supra is a festival of food and sharing that puts our bowls of Pringles and Tesco Basics dips to shame.

Ringing in the New Year in Tbilisi

As a Brit my previous New Year celebrations were usually spent swigging room temperature Prosecco and tinnies at London house parties. At midnight we’d crack open a window and listen for the distant pops of fireworks sailing across the city from the London Eye. Sometimes we would stream the show on our smartphones because who has a TV these days? 

Promptly at 1 am we would pocket a tinny for the road, make our excuses (or perform the Irish goodbye), and depart for a three-hour night bus home or splash out an Uber that would take three months to pay off.

This is the third New Year (fourth, if you count Tet in Vietnam!) that I’ve rung-in overseas since I left the UK.

Our Tbilisi apartment is in Chugureti/Marjanishvili which isn’t quite slap-bang in the heart of town but it is near enough. That means we could experience the fireworks the social distance-friendly way – from our balcony. Ten minutes before midnight, the sky erupted with every colour under the sun while the booms and bangs saw my little cat bolt beneath the bed and refuse to come back out until the following morning. 

We could see people in the street below detonating fireworks from their hands. Fear, what fear?

What is Bedoba?

Looping back: what is Bedoba and how does this all fit in with the Georgian New Year celebrations?

After all that feasting and toasting and launching fireworks out of whatever hand isn’t wrapped around a glass of chacha, Georgians write off the first day of the year and turn their attention to Bedoba. 

Bedoba translates into ‘luck’ and has come to mean ‘Destiny Day’ or ‘Day of Fate.’

Georgians believe that however you choose to spend Bedoba will determine the course that your New Year will follow. 

During this auspicious day, Georgians will make a massive effort to spread positivity, have fun and put some good karma out there. Even more so than usual – from my experience of living in Georgia for the past year they tend to live in this spirited way every day of the year. 

Georgians might choose to spend the with loved ones or do something special that they hope will set the general shape of the year to come. Charitable deeds are believed to bring good karma vibes.

Celebrating Bedoba in Georgia 

The best thing about having Bedoba as the second day of January is that we got to take the first day of the New Year to sleep off the revelry of the 31st. 

After spending the whole of 1 January lolling on the sofa devouring all seven hours of The Queen’s Gambit (yes, it’s that good) we decided that we couldn’t repeat that for Bedoba. 

My boyfriend and I decided to embrace superstition and spend Bedoba doing some things that we hope will contribute to a healthy, happy, and productive 2021.

A Lucky Bedoba Walk around Tbilisi

We woke early and headed out for a walk before Tbilisi sprung to life. 

I’m rarely in bed any later than 6 am these days (courtesy of our rescue cat who schedules early attacks on my feet). I want this early-bird lifestyle to stick around for the year so I figured this early morning stroll might give me a piece of Bedoba luck…

Secondly, walking is something that I love to do but this year I haven’t managed as many hikes as I’d have liked because of a heavy workload. Oh, and the pandemic. This year I want to spend a little more time on my feet and a little less hunched over my laptop. 

One of the weirdest things about Tbilisi is how much of a ghost town the city is first thing. It’s rare to even find a cafe open at 10 am and the majority of places keep their doors bolted until midday. Shops typically open late morning and trying to find a vet who opens before 11 am is like searching for a needle in a haystack. 

Leaving bright and early, we were able to make the most of deserted streets. The sun was shining in the bluebird sky – perfect winter conditions.

We walked from our apartment in Marjanishvili to the centre of the city, petting and feeding street dogs and cats along the way (hopefully this will bring them Bedoba luck for the year too).

We meandered the hilly streets of Sololaki, oohing and ahhing at beautiful balconies we hadn’t lingered on before. Again, maybe taking the time to look more closely could bode well for 2021?

As ‘fate’ would have it, we crossed paths with two of our friends whilst exploring – which seemed like a spooky coincidence and possibly an omen for friendship in 2021.

Bedoba eating for prosperity

After pigging out on empanadas, fajitas, German potato salad, khinkali, sulguni, and biscuits over Christmas (the fabulous side effect of sharing Christmas with a mix of European and South American friends in Georgia!), we both decided that one of our priorities for Bedoba was to eat healthily.

So rather than tucking into cheesy breads on our walk like we usually would, we picked up some healthier sushi as a Bedoba treat. 

Tonight (to make up for yesterday’s gluttonous takeaway) we’ll whip up a healthy lentil curry loaded with delicious Georgian veggies to bring us luck and hopefully curb our insatiable greed for khachapuri in 2021…

Lucky Bedoba Tokens at Tbilisi Dry Market

Located on the northern side of the Saarbruecken Bridge, local vendors amass daily at the Dry Bridge Market and flog authentic Soviet memorabilia including war medallions, Soviet passports, and military papers. You can also buy qvevri (Georgian amphorae), household items, tapestries, fabrics, toys, jewellery and knives that no airline would let a tourist take back home. 

I often cross through the market when walking into the centre of the city and have a browse at what’s on sale. Due to the current lockdown the market is pretty much deserted at present. Today there were less than 10 vendors selling their goods as we walked back home after our Bedoba stroll. 

Stopping to have a rummage through some tins of pins and medallions at one stall, the vendor came over waving a bottle of champagne at us and thrusting two plastic cups into our eager hands. He and his friends were toasting the year ahead and one had apparently made his way through 18 litres of wine in the past few hours. 

This guy was the very definition of the famous Georgian hospitality. He filled our pockets with complimentary pins and trinkets and expressed his horror that neither the UK nor Chile celebrates Bedoba. 

We bought some souvenirs for our loved ones back in the UK and Chile, hopefully this means the Bedoba luck will spread?

How to Say Happy New Year in Georgian

Bedoba wishes

I tried to strike a Bedoba balance between healthy eating, exercising, resting, gifting loved ones and being productive (hence me writing this blog post today rather than in six months time!). 

Fingers crossed for a lucky 2021 to anyone who finds this post.

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