What to expect from Tbilisi Open Air 2025?

This year, the biggest music festival in the South Caucasus will take place 24–25 May with an all-Georgian lineup.

Tbilisi Open Air is the oldest and most influential music festival in Georgia’s capital. Founded in 2009, it has played a pivotal role in shaping the country’s contemporary music landscape.

In past years, Tbilisi Open Air has welcomed international headliners such as Deep Purple, Alt-J, Sevdaliza, Franz Ferdinand, Archive, Placebo, and M.I.A. However, the 2025 edition marks a deliberate shift, featuring an exclusively Georgian lineup.

‘This year’s festival will be full of unusual collaborations and artists, those who you would never imagine you would see at a festival like this’, the founder’s festival, Achiko Guledani, says.

In 2025, the festival’s organisers are placing a spotlight on social and artistic expression, in response to ongoing protests across the country.  To do so, they are bringing together local artists united by shared values of freedom, equality, and solidarity.

‘Tbilisi Open Air has always responded to what’s happening in the country’, Guledani says. ‘It’s not just a concert, we do have our own values and this year, we wanted to showcase people who represent these values’.

In another change, the festival is taking place 24–25 May, earlier than its usual scheduling in June.

‘The choice of date is symbolic. The 26th of May is Georgia’s Independence Day, and we wanted the community to come together, to kick off the celebrations of independence day’, Guledani highlights.

In preparation for Tbilisi Open Air 2025, here are OC Media’s top picks for the artists and productions to keep an eye on.

Unusual performances and collaborations

Green Room and Giuli Chokheli

Giuli Chokheli, a 90-year-old Georgian jazz legend, — often dubbed the Georgian Judy Garland — is making a stunning return at Tbilisi Open Air. Chokheli was the first female jazz performer in Georgia and pioneered the genre at a time when jazz was banned in the Soviet Union, as it was considered decadent and ideologically dangerous, associated with American cultural values.

However, Chokheli defied Soviet censorship. Not only did she persevere, but she also became beloved by Georgian society, symbolising freedom during an era of repression. Her song Paemanze (on a date)  is one of her most famous songs during the Soviet era.

Recently she made a major comeback showing solidarity to the queer community by performing at Tbilisi Drag Ball.

She’ll appear alongside Green Room, a funky rock band created by festival founder Achiko Guledani.

Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet

Sukhishvili is widely regarded as the face of Georgian dance. Over the past several decades, the dance company has performed in more than 90 countries. In the last two decades, they also started occasionally blending contemporary choreography with traditional Georgian dance.

They will likely also showcase their musical project, which showcases traditional Georgian music to the same effect as the ensemble does for Georgian dance.

TOA for Theatre: ‘LOUDER’

For the first time in its history, Tbilisi Open Air is dedicating its main stage to theatre as an act of solidarity with the Georgian theatre community, which has been at the forefront of the ongoing anti-government demonstrations in Tbilisi. The festival will feature music composed for various theatrical performances, with the goal to amplify the voice of Georgian theatre through the power of its music.

Tamada & 4D Monster Lobsters feat. Giorgi Ushikishvili

Tamada is currently one of the most popular musicians in Georgia. The name Tamada means a traditional Georgian table host, or toastmaster. He has developed a unique style by blending Georgian folk elements with electronic sounds. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out his most popular single ‘Piramde’, featuring a performance by the lead dancer of the Sukhishvili ensemble.

This year, Tamada will collaborate with the psychedelic synth-pop band 4D Monster Lobsters. A third Intriguing addition is folk singer Giorgi Ushikishvili. Like Tamada and 4D Monster Lobsters, Ushikishvili has been vocal in supporting the recent protests in Georgia. He is a master in Georgia’s three-part polyphonic singing, with his ensembles frequently performing songs characteristic to Georgian  ritual and religious gatherings,  including using regional dialects and original intonations and phrasing.

Paata Burchuladze

Georgian operatic bass Paata Burchuladze graduated from La Scala, and has performed leading roles at prestigious opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, and the Vienna State Opera. He has even performed with the famed Pavarotti.

Known for his philanthropy, since 2016 he’s been an active opponent of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and has been very present throughout the anti-government protests in Georgia, even performing live at the demonstrations.

On his 70th birthday, which took place during the ongoing protests, the Georgian National Opera House declined to hold a ceremony in his honour. Instead, a march was held from, leading celebrants to the Georgian Parliament building as his music played over loudspeakers.

Kordz + Nani Bregvadze, Mechanical Rainbow

Kordz is an experimental composer, known for his danceable live sets. His remix of a crowd chanting ‘Ole, Ola, Fuck Georgian Dream’ became the most reposted sound on TikTok and Instagram.

This year, he will be joined by Mechanical Rainbow and yet another rather unusual performer, Nani Bregvadze. Bregvadze, 88, is a singer and pianist who was made a People’s Artist of Georgia and the Soviet Union, one of the highest recognitions for performing artists at the time. She is known for her unique vocal and diva attitude. The collaboration promises a unique fusion bridging traditional with experimental.

PVP Battle

PVP Battle Tbilisi has become a cult hit in the local music scene. It’s a hip-hop battle, head-to-head lyrical competitions between local underground emcees. The language of the battle will most likely be Georgian. The crowd can be rowdy — expect drunk teenagers — but that chaotic energy is also part of what gives PVP its edge and charm. Look out for Nikki Slow vs. Grotask, who is making a major comeback after several years away.

What else to look forward to:

Another performer outside of the unusual collaborations we love at OC Media is Max.95 — a Georgian experimental hip-hop artist with at least three different names best known for his project Kayakata, ​​which he describes as an ‘urban tribal’ genre, whatever that means. Max.95 also recently released a great new album, which we hope to listen to live.

SKAZZ & MAMAFLEX is another highlight. SKAZZ is probably the most popular post-punk band from Kutaisi, the city in western Georgia where alternative music really took root in the 1990s. They will be performing with underground artist and rapper Mamaflex, who hails from Batumi, Georgia’s third city on the Black Sea. He’s notable for his experimental and ambitious flows, and for always wearing a black balaclava with a string of pearls hanging from one eye. While Mamaflex’s music has drawn criticism for its ambiguous references to jihad, and the random use of Arabic language, his sound remains distinctive and provocative. You can listen to Skazz and Mamaflex's previous collaboration, ‘Dilema’, here.

Another highlight is MokuMoku, an eight-piece band which blends hip-hop with bass/synth bass, keys, and a saxophone. They’re known for their lively performances.

Another exciting act is the Georgian jazz pianist Beka Gochiashvili, who will be performing in collaboration with Temuriko Diasamidze, Luka Topuria & Mushone, and Khatia Koridze. Gochiashvili is widely considered a Georgian piano wunderkind, performing since he was nine years old. Back in 2008, then-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described him as ‘the most gifted jazzman she had ever met’.

The one last highlight would be the Georgian indie band Bedford Falls. Their music blends elements of indie rock, dream pop, and post-punk, characterised by a mix of acoustic instruments and electronic sounds. Notable songs include ‘Post Soviet Morter’ and ‘Vidal Loco’.

As for the night stages at Tbilisi Open Air, the organisers have curated a varied selection to perform, picking from among residents of Georgia’s best-known clubs and festivals. Look out for Seqta, a Berlin based Georgian DJ and Tes resident. His sound combines hypnotic acid trance, shamanic tribal drums, and progressive breaks filled with ghetto sensuality. The night stage lineup will include veteran DJ’s like Gio Shengelia, Tomma, Kote Japaridze, Zurkin, Bero, who will not disappoint.

This year, the grounds will also host a wine festival, Freedom Library, and Freedom Village dedicated to civil society groups, giving space to media and queer organisations to discuss their ongoing struggles. For example, the Georgian investigative outlet iFact will host a workshop on verifying information, while separately artists will draw a mural of detained journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, who faces 4-7 years in prison for slapping Batumi’s police chief.

In addition, the festival will support musicians and artists who are in particular need of assistance — part of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Contemporary Art and Culture Fund and the Georgian Musicians’ Trade Union.

When purchasing tickets, visitors will also have the option to make an additional donation to the above-mentioned organisations, should they wish to.  You can buy festival tickets here.

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