07 02 12:00-20:00 performances at Vilnius Bernardine Garden, the castles territory, the Cathedral Square, 20:00 concert at the Cathedral Square | free admission

The Folklore Day is a rare opportunity for the audience to get thoroughly introduced to the features of the Lithuanian regions. 6000 performers of the Folklore Day will gather at the Vilnius Old Town to present the Lithuanian regions.

The program of the Folklore Day proclaims that the most important message of our inherited culture is that the world is sacred. The sacredness extends into everything: both visible and invisible, everything that grows, stretches out, flourishes and disappears, into everything that is, was and will be. It is the essential feature of the old worldview, which determined a human’s nature in the world, the relationship with the environment. A person, perceiving the world and oneself in this way, is educated to respect and preserve the surroundings, to use the given good and resources no more than is necessary, to search for ways of living, surviving, feeling the meaning of being and happiness.

The magic formula – rasi rasoj rasi, rasi rasoj rasi... – from a short story by Kazys Saja was chosen to capture the substance of the program. The formula plays with Lithuanian words “dew” and “to find”; it will invite everyone to search for the aforementioned essence and will give the hope of finding it. Dew is one the most beautiful and brightest symbols of sacredness, liveliness, purity, the meaning and the essence of the world. The majority of the world cultures, including the Lithuanian, prescribe it multi-meaningful, magic and supernatural properties.

The participants of the Folklore Day – the most prominent folklore singers, musicians, storytellers, folk art and traditional crafts artisans, other enthusiasts of the ethnic culture and the intangible cultural heritage – will be demonstrating the meanings and the beauty of the their local heritage in the Bernardine Garden, the Castles’ territory, the Cathedral Square, and other spots of Vilnius; the start of the day and closing events as well as ceremonial and inclusive highlights will help create the Celebration.