Publié
Thu, May 16, 2024, 15:45
- "Our full support to every person fighting for the European future of Georgia," the team said in a statement.
Georgia's 4GB Festival won't go ahead this year.
Due to take place from May 25th through 27th, the festival broke the news on Instagram earlier today, May 16th, citing the continued political unrest as the reason for the cancellation.
"Based on the situation in the country, we consider it unjustified to hold a festival at this time," the post read. "Our full support to every person fighting for the European future of Georgia."
The announcement follows the Georgian government's decision to pass the controversial "foreign agents" bill, which requires media and commercial organisations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from outside the country to register as "agents of foreign influence." Hundreds of thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets of Tbilisi in opposition of the bill. They've been met with riot police armed with water cannon and tear gas. The police have been accused of beating protestors, the Guardian reports.
The protests have received strong backing from the Tbilisi club community, with venues such as Bassiani, KHIDI, TES, Left Bank, Mtkvarze and Cafe Gallery all showing support on social media. Left Bank cofounder Gacha Bakradze told Resident Advisor that two of the club's staff members were arrested while protesting at Heroes Square earlier this week.
"They were both picked up along with several other innocent civilians," he said. "The police were arresting people almost immediately, as the protest began there. The demonstrators were there peacefully yet they faced physical aggression from the authorities. It's really troubling to see."
Launched in 2011, 4GB takes place in an abandoned Soviet-era space centre in the Saguramo mountain range. This year's edition was due to host the likes of Michael Mayer, Neil Landstrumm and Zoë Mc Pherson.
Read 4GB's post in full.