Kazantip was an electronic music festival held in Crimea, Ukraine, from 1992 until 2013. After Russia’s annexation of Crimea, organizers decided to move the event to Anaklia, Georgia.

The festival faced fierce opposition from Orthodox clergy and their followers, who claimed that Kazantip promoted “immorality.”

On August 14, 2014, priests and parishioners held a protest march against the festival. According to LivePress, before the rally, they conducted a prayer service at St. Nicholas Church in Anaklia and then marched toward the entrance of the so-called “Republic of Kazantip,” where the festival was scheduled for August 20–30. Protesters carried signs reading, “We ask the government not to allow depravity” and “Don’t turn Georgia into Sodom and Gomorrah.” Police blocked them on the Anaklia–Ganmu­khuri bridge, preventing them from reaching the festival site.

Protests continued in the following days. In churches across the region, priests led prayers asking God to protect Georgia from the “open preaching of immorality and debauchery.”

On August 20, another protest took place in Tbilisi, starting from the Parliament building and moving to the Government Chancellery. Clergy distributed leaflets titled “Kazantip – Importing Depravity into Georgia.” The pamphlets claimed that “sex in all its forms is a central attribute of Kazantip,” and referred to its “Fast Married” ritual, described as a mock marriage game that “celebrates love in every manifestation.”

Despite these protests, the Kazantip festival went ahead as planned in Anaklia.