07 01 11:00 (opening) outside Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (Katedros Square 4, Vilnius) | free admission

Village open until 5 July

The Lithuanian Song Celebration highlights the art not only made by people’s voices and movements, but by hands as well. The theme of the anniversary celebration “May the Green Forest Grow” invites for a revision of what we could do to make this aspiration come true, and for the symbolic forest to flourish for the upcoming centuries.

A tree, one of the main images of the Song Celebration 2024, is also an important theme of the artisans’ everyday life. The hands of an artisan are able to revive a cut tree for a second life: in a shape of a spoon, a dowry chest, a roof decoration, or a wooden toy in a child‘s hands. This kind of resurrection is a special one, requiring not only love, but also skills, which are wholeheartedly shared in the Children‘s Traditional Crafts Village. In this part of the Song Celebration specifically designed for the little ones, stability and flow intertwine; here, one can see the how the old crafts revitalise, how the stiff materials come to life, how tools fit the hands, and that the fellowship grows while working together. The teachers of the old crafts are prominent traditional artisans and instructors; their students have been the winners of the Folk Art Contest for the Lithuanian Youth. The most heart-warming learning method applied at the Crafts Village is children-to-children. The most gifted Lithuanian students, already proficient in the secrets of the traditional crafts, will try the role of teachers, which should help the visitors feel free to come by, to ask curious questions, and to enjoy growing together in support and in understanding.