The park resounds with music and songs. The rehearsal of musicians and singers preparing for the biggest event of the summer in Lithuania: the centenary of the Lithuanian Song Festival. Dainų Šventė in Lithuanian.
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The first was held in 1924 in Kaunas, then the country was the temporary capital. The opening concert is scheduled for Saturday June 29. Over four thousand artists. The choir alone is made up of around four hundred people. Lithuanians living in the Baltic country, but also many who lives abroad. Months of preparation for each of them. The moment has come.
The rehearsals, the emotion of being part of a unique event, the excitement of speaking with those living in different countries, but strongly feeling part of this country, the heat that makes the performance a challenge…
“May the Green Forest Grow” is the title chosen for the centenary. A reference to nature, so important and present in the hearts of all Lithuanians. Their songs, many of which were banned during the Soviet occupation because they were considered against the regime, speak of nature and love for the homeland. In the music, in the words, a love that crosses borders shines through.
Lithuania, a land of emigration since the time of the Tsar, when many Lithuanians decided to leave their occupied land to seek a better life: United States, Argentina, Venezuela, Australia and many others.
According to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 470,000 Lithuanians live abroad. The largest community is in the USA. The current population of Lithuania is 2,800,000 people.
Today Lithuania is a modern, welcoming country, rich in history and culture, with good job opportunities. Especially for young people.
According to official statistics, eighty thousand Lithuanians returned from abroad in the last four years. For the first time, the number is greater than that of emigrants in the same period.
For the centenary the first concert takes place in Kaunas. A tribute to the second city of Lithuania, capital in the first independence between the two world wars of the last century, which hosted the first festival.
The first week of July the celebration continue in Vilnius. Dozens of shows, most of them free to the delight of everyone, including tourists. Around thirty-seven thousand artists participate in the event and over thirteen thousand will be at the final concert on July 6 at Vingis Park. Special date for Lithuania. July 6 is Statehood Day and at 9 pm o’clock (local time) all Lithuanians, wherever they are in the world, sing the national anthem.
The opening concert
Song Valley is a large open-air theater built more than fifty years ago and recently restored. It is located in Ąžuolyno parkas, the Oak Park, eighty-four hectares of nature where centenary trees stand out, austere and of great beauty.
Already in the morning the artists alternate on stage for the rehearsals. The choir of around four hundred people is made up of choristers from all over Lithuania and from communities living abroad. They all sing together the pieces proposed by the various conductors. I have never seen so many women among them!
The city has been buzzing for days about the upcoming event and people are listening, watching, enjoying and listening to songs in the shade of the oak trees.
From the afternoon onwards the number of people increases. It’s very hot. Unlike in the morning, the stage is now in shadow. A relief for choir and musicians. The sun beats down on the audience until late in the evening, when it is finally hidden by the treetops.
Nobody complains. They wait for the event and the stands fill up quickly. Thousands of people, many young people and entire families.
At 6 pm the concert begins with the national anthem. Everyone standing sings together with the choir. Get excited. Many, I read in the following days, have relatives and friends who participated in past editions. But this one is special. It’s the centenary.
Music and performance follow one another with the scenography that tells the story of the past editions and the history of Lithuania. Images from the past show a very different country. But yesterday as today the audience is part of the show: they participate, sing, stand up, applaud.
It’s a big, beautiful celebration for everyone.
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