The organizers of the Zion Festival announced a softening of the admission conditions for Russians.
Instead of a complete ban, citizens of Russia will be allowed to attend the Zion Festival in Tbilisi on the condition that they recognize the territorial integrity of Georgia, the Russian occupation of Georgian territories, and condemn Russia's actions towards Georgia, the festival organizers stated.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on September 12, it became known that the organizers of Zion Fest 2026 in Tbilisi prohibited citizens of Russia from attending the festival. Georgian political scientist Mamuka Areshidze pointed out that such discrimination is prohibited by the Constitution and legislation of Georgia.
Later, the line about the non-admission of Russians was removed from the ticket sales rules description. Zion Fest 2026 will take place on September 25-26 at Lake Lisi in Tbilisi.
On September 14, the organizers of the Zion Festival posted a repost of OC Media's publication about the new admission conditions for Russians in the festival's official Instagram*-account stories. The card posted in the Zion Festival stories states that citizens of Russia will be allowed to the festival only upon recognizing the territorial integrity of Georgia.
In the Instagram*-publication of the ocmedia_caucasus from September 14, which was reposted in the Zion Festival stories, it is stated that Russian citizens wishing to attend the festival are offered to fill out and sign a short questionnaire, confirming their position on three points: the territorial integrity of Georgia, the Russian occupation of Georgian territories, and respect for the festival's values. It is also stated that Russians will be required to condemn Moscow's actions towards Georgia, which are characterized in the publication as Russian aggression.
Thus, the previous complete ban for citizens of Russia was replaced by a requirement to confirm a number of political positions.
"This is a direct response to the reality in which we live as Georgians: the territories of our country are occupied by Russia, and our people have experienced war, occupation, forced displacement, and ongoing Russian aggression," the statement from the Zion Festival, quoted by the Instagram*-public ocmedia_caucasus on September 14, said.
Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be territories occupied by Russia after Russia intervened in the armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia on August 8, 2008, and then recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, according to a report by the "Caucasian Knot" about the "Five-Day War" of 2008. Venezuela recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in September 2009.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that conflicts involving tourists periodically arise in Georgia, and the Georgian opposition has used the issue of relocants in political struggles. For instance, on August 25, representatives of the opposition "United National Movement" accused the ruling party "Georgian Dream" of creating conditions for the mass entry of citizens of Russia. "Georgian Dream" called such rhetoric incitement of ethnic hatred.
On July 21, a court in Telavi released on bail Giorgi Chigladze, who was detained after a conflict with Russian-speaking tourists at a hotel in Telavi during his brother's wedding. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Chigladze hit one of the tourists after the girls insulted the wedding participants and splashed water on the equipment, while the friend of the injured tourist claimed that the conflict arose due to the Russian language.
On July 11, in Tbilisi, participants of a memorial event for Georgian fighters who died in combat actions in Ukraine held a march near the parliament building, during which a conflict occurred with a group of tourists. Georgian media identified the tourists as citizens of Russia. In the video recording, some participants of the march surrounded the tourist electric car, shouted insults at the tourists, and tried to approach the car, while one of the tourists showed the demonstrators an obscene gesture. Social media users expressed polarized opinions about the incident: some believed that the tourists were responding to the aggression of the march participants, while others attributed the cause of the conflict to the behavior of the tourists themselves.