On September 12, a press conference dedicated to the International Festival of Traditional Handcrafting Workshop was held at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia (4 Sanapiro Street). 

First Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport - Mikheil Giorgadze, Vice-Mayor of Akhaltsikhe Municipality - Guram Melikidze, Director of State Museum of Folk and Applied Arts - Irine Koshoridze, Coordinator of the International Festival - Irina Mania, Georgian Traditional Handicraft and the deputy head of USAID Zrda Activity in Georgia - Keti Chumburidze.

International Festival of Traditional Handcrafting will be held in Akhaltsikhe on the prison premises on September 14-16.

Within the scope of the festival, a variety of activities are planned such as: attending open master classes, drawing and painting, painting with natural colors, knitting, tailoring, crafting different musical instruments, and etc. Experts from different countries, such as: Turkey, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan are all invited to participate in the festival. Additionally, small stands will be arranged for the sale of traditional handcrafted products. Within the project framework, the museum offers a variety of interesting and unique exhibitions. Project - XIX-XX Century Traditional Workshops in Georgia, is one of many, where an old archive of photos will be displayed. 

The festival aims to popularize traditional craft fields; support local masters; facilitate the restoration of various workshops, loaded with a new function of historical significant and attract visitors.