On February the 14th, the day of love, the bride and groom will be the leading characters of this year‘s Mardi Gras festival at the Open Air Museum of Lithuania!
We traditionally start the year with the biggest event of the calendar cycle – Užgavėnės (cf. Mardi Gras, Carnival, and other Shrovetide celebrations), which this year celebrates its forty-fifth anniversary!
With fun and entertaining activities, Užgavėnės will invite you to disguise yourself in masks and costumes, roll in the snow, make pancakes over an open flame, sing and dance, engage in impromptu wedding and other improvisations. This holiday reminds us: while we are preparing the earth for a new cycle of life, let us wake up for it ourselves!
Come on, don’t be shy – maybe you’ll find your soulmate in this whirlwind of fun, or even discover the perfect time and place to get engaged?
What do St. Valentine’s Day and Užgavėnės have in common?
Marriage and love! This year, Mardi Gras is celebrated at the Open Air Museum of Lithuania on February 14, St. Valentine’s Day. Traditionally, Užgavėnės commonly features wedding themes – newlywed or lover characters, wedding dances, teasing older unmarried people, and wedding reenactments. As Norbertas Vėlius wrote, “the bright erotic element in both the costumes of the disguised people and in the actions and dialogues, accompanied by laughter, had a magical purpose – to promote fertility and awaken the vegetative forces of the earth and living creatures.”
St. Valentine, a bishop of Rome who lived in the 3rd century, secretly married lovers, although Emperor Claudius II forbade marriages so that men would go to war. Later, Valentine’s Day became a holiday of love and lovers popularized in the 17th century in the United Kingdom and the United States, and in Lithuania it began to be celebrated only after the 1990s, after gaining independence. Today, February the 14th, is not only a day to celebrate love, but also a day when more and more couples choose to get married.
TICKETS
- Ticket price – 12 Eur
- For schoolchildren, students, seniors – 6 Eur
- For preschool children – free
Tickets can be purchased at the museum box office on the day of the event. You can purchase tickets in advance online.
The last tickets for Užgavėnes are sold at 4 pm.
The event will be photographed and filmed. The footage will be used to promote the work of the museum.
Filming and photography for commercial purposes rather than personal use is only permitted with the prior consent of the organizers.
The use of drones without the organizers’ permission is prohibited.
PROGRAM
TOWN
10 am – 5 pm
- Fair featuring culinary and folk heritage craftspeople and other skilled artisans (Žemaitija karčema, entrances to the town and square)
- “Transfiguration Room” (Tabariškės house)
- Visual impressions from previous museum Mardi Gras celebrations, a cosy place to relax (Tabariškės house)
- “Matchmaking Agency” PG 18 (Pušalotas house)
- “Doctor‘s Powerful Medicine” (Žeimeliai house)
- Mardi Gras post office: postcard sending and souvenirs (Post office)
- Mask making workshop (Firefighter’s hall)
- Mask carving with master craftsman Viktor Raibužis and his students (Plungė house)
- “Store of wonderful wares” (Žeimeliai house)
- Amber artisanry (Špitolė building)
- “Watch a Weaver Work” (Špitolė building)
12-3 pm (with breaks) the musicians “Turgaus taburetė” will provide a cheerful atmosphere
ŽEMAITIJA
12-3 pm
- “Domeikavos seklyčia” folk band (Pakelės karčema)
- “Rumšiškių tradicinės muzikos kapela” folk band (Pakelės karčema)
- “Kurtuove” Kurtuvėnai folk ensemble of the Bazilioniai Branch of the Šiauliai District Municipality Cultural Centre (Darbėnai farmstead)
- “Spigens” folk ensemble from the Telšiai Cultural Centre (Darbėnai farmstead)
- “Platelee” folk ensemble from the Samogitia national park (Gintališkė farmstead)
- “Aidija” folk ensemble from the Radviliškis Cultural Centre (Gintališkė farmstead)
- Mardi Gras mask exhibition by Saulius Tamulis (Gintališkė farmstead)
- “Ratilio” folk ensemble of the Vilnius University (Gondinga farmstead)
- “Piliarožė” folk ensemble from the Kaunas county’s Raudondvaris Cultural Centre
- “Viešia” folk ensemble from the Neveronys Leisure Hall at the Ramučiai Cultural Centre in Kaunas County (Kartena farmstead)
- “Pottery Shattering” – release your feelings safely! (For newlyweds: you will have as many children as you have shards). (Įpiltis farmstead)
- Village carousel with sleighs (pond near Darbėnai farmstead)
LITHUANIA MINOR
12-3 pm
- “Sula” folk ensemble of Telšiai city (Vabalai farmstead)
- “Labingis” Vilnius folk ensemble (Vabalai farmstead)
12-5 pm Stew and matchmaking, “Our Bride and Your Groom” (Vabalai farmstead)
NEAR THE WINDMILL
10 am – 5 pm
Independent pancake frying station
12 – 5 pm Races around the windmill
12 – 3 pm
Traditional Lithuanian wrestling
SUVALKIJA
10 am – 5 pm
Kaunas county Chief Police Station officers and police mascot Amsis: presentation of police activities, reflectors, and quiz (by the oak tree).
12 – 3 pm
“Liktužė” folk ensemble of the Kaunas folk club (Obelinė farmstead)
“Verpeta” folk ensemble of the Kaišiadorys Cultural Centre (Obelinė farmstead)
12 – 5 pm
Active games and sports (near Obelinė farmstead)
Village carousel with sleighs (pond near Obelinė farmstead)
ACTIVITIES WITH HORSES
12 – 4 pm (with breaks)
Horse-drawn sleigh ride (starting point – tree-hollow apiary towards the Dzūkija village)
Horseback riding (Dirgalis farmstead, Žemaitija)
NEAR THE WINTER EFFIGY “MORĖ”
2:30 – 3:30 A parade of masked costumed figures and folk ensembles from Žemaitija to the Morė, led by musicians and this year’s main characters: the “bride and groom.”
3:30 – 4 pm
The handing-over of the sceptre to next year’s main mask character, battle between Lašininis and Kanapinis, bonfire of Morė – the effigy of evil, misfortune, winter and darkness! Moderated by Loreta Sungailienė
JUMP INTO THE CIRCLE, DANCE, AND FIND YOUR OTHER HALF
4 – 5 pm Games and lively dancing with the folk band “Sutaras” (town square)
Wandering ensembles: LSMU ensemble “Kupolė”, Kaišiadorys Cultural Centre youth folk ensemble “Žilvita”, Pravieniškės Community Activity Centre children’s folk ensemble “Pravieniukai”, Rumšiškės Cultural Centre folk ensemble “Strazdelis”.
The organizers reserve the right to make minor changes to the program.
The event will be photographed and filmed, and the material will be used for museum publicity purposes.