Welcome Speech from Artistic Director

Artistic Director, Elisso Bolkvadze

Dear friends and music lovers,

The 8 th Batumi Black Sea Music & Art Festival (BBSMAF) is taking place from 16th to 18th of October 2020 in Batumi, Georgia.

4 th year consecutively the festival is held under the high patronage of UNESCO.

In spite of the pandemic, Festival management still succeeded to preserve the annual tradition, by adapting to new format and schedule.

This year complying with Covid-19 regulations the BBSMAF 2020 will proceed without audience in attendance.

It will be broadcasted live by POSTV. The artists will be joining live from different cities. Live broadcasts will ensure to transcend the magnificent power of music from concert hall to audience!

Festival’s one of the main priority remains to discover and support young Georgian musicians.

As a UNESCO Artist for Peace, I strongly believe that we should encourage and strengthen the cultural activities in Georgia and highlight our position globally, by preserving the cultural ecosystem.

Festival is very grateful to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia and Autonomous Republic of Adjara, which stand by and support the Festival from its creation.

As well Batumi City Hall and Batumi Music Centre and everyone else who has come together to support this initiative!

Special thanks to the President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili.

Elisso Bolkvadze
Founder and Artistic Director