On the 1st of March at noon, come to a huge Mardi Gras frenzy at the Open Air Museum of Lithuania in Rumšiškės! Don’t stay home – join the festive bustle and forget all your bad thoughts and troubles for a while!
This year we invite you to hop into the Mardi Gras festival with goats!
The goat mask is considered one of the most important characters of the Samogitian Mardi Gras. These masks were not found in other ethnographic regions.
The goat is a symbol of fertility. If a girl likes a boy, during Mardi Gras she should approach him wearing a goat mask and say: “My dear boy, take me to wife”. If he takes her, then the woman will be with him forever. Another theatrical element of this mask – a goat was given to old men as wives. In folk beliefs, a goat is often considered the devil’s animal or even his wife. The devil himself is also depicted with parts of a goat’s body.
Sometimes, people in disguise leading a goat would try to milk it as a she-goat. A bucket of water would be placed under the goat’s feet. The goat would angrily kick the bucket and splash everyone with water. Goats also like to bleat, climb on the table, and poke each other with their horns.
It would be terribly beautiful if you came to celebrate like the antecedents used to – wearing masks and various costumes for fun!
What awaits us during this Mardi Gras festival?
Goat milking, hornet treatment, devil and witch scarecrows, horse racing, crane fights, bear baiting, pancake flipping, mixing the hotchpotch, and saying goodbye to all the winter troubles!
TICKETS
- Ticket price – 12 Eur
- For schoolchildren, students, seniors – 6 Eur
- For pre-school children – free
Tickets can be purchased at the museum box office on the day of the event. Advance tickets can be purchased online.
The last tickets to the Mardi Gras feast are sold at 4 PM.
Photography and filming will be taken during the event. The visual material will be used to promote the museum’s activities.
Photography and filming for non-personal, commercial publicity purposes is only possible with the permission of the organizers.