Kaunas Hanseatic Days – the biggest city festival being held for already the second decade. This year the festival will take place for three days, May 19-21, and will bring together performers and spectators not only from Kaunas, but from the whole Lithuania and abroad.

The area of Kaunas Castle will turn into a medieval town with knight camps, schools, tournaments, games, craftspeople hamlet, concerts, and different amusements. Other spaces of the festival arranged across the whole Old Town will be filled up with the sounds of jazz, rock, bard, orchestra, choral, and folk music, images and attractions.

We invite you to become familiar with the main highlights of the Kaunas Hanseatic Days. More information and a detailed event programme will be announced later. Thus, everybody of us mark in our calendars the third May weekend, follow information, and visit the biggest festival of the city of Kaunas.

INTERNATIONAL KNIGHT TOURNAMENT – for winning a sword of the commander of the Lithuanian Army

This year traditionally during the Kaunas Hanseatic Days, an international knight tournament for winning a sword of the commander of the Lithuanian Army will be held. This year is special since it is already the 10^th such jubilee tournament that will bring together dozens of knights from the whole Europe. The tournament is held according to the international rules of knight tournaments and it is commented and conducted by a professional Herold. During tournament breaks, the audience will be introduced armoury and weaponry used by knights; spectators are encouraged to test their hand in entertaining games as an armour-bearer, try on armour, or compete among themselves in the weapon mastery events.

A LIVE STREET – festival of live sculptures

We march through the Gates of Time towards the Kaunas Hanseatic Days

When streets and squares turn into a live buzz. If you are able to freeze, turn into a sculpture, and have an ingenuous phantasy,

We will wait for you in the competition of live sculptures and will award the best one with a valuable prize. If you waste the sound of nerve strings for neighbours to no avail, during the Hanseatic Days become a great artist and bring high spirits and a smile to the guests by playing on stages in the street named by Vilnius.

We invite you to participate in the festival of Street Sculptures during Hanseatic Days on May 19-21 on Vilnius Street in Kaunas. The participants are invited to register by email: [email protected] before May 15 of the current year. Valuable prizes are waiting for all participants, whereas the most original sculpture will be awarded a special gift donated by sponsors. You have to indicate in the registration card: name, surname, telephone, and email, include several pictures and a brief description of the sculpture.

KERMOŠIUS – the Lithuanian national heritage fair

Near Kaunas Town Hall, in the central part of the city, a market/fair/tasting will be humming. Only farmers and craftspeople who have earned label of Lithuanian national heritage introducing only special, authentic, and traditional articles will participate in the fair. Traditional foodstuffs, crafts have persisted through the centuries, therefore, are an integral part of history and culture. The main goal of this fair is to recreate the life pulse and spirit of the Kaunas Town Hall square reminiscent of the Hanseatic times. The atmosphere and mood will be created by folklore collectives associated with the cultural identity. They will show up on a cosy stage of the square.

WE DECORATE KAUNAS – a creative camp of woodcrafters

A creative camp of the best Lithuanian woodcrafters “We Decorate Kaunas” will be established at the foot of the central square of the castle, near the path to the Neris River. Within 3 days, each of seven best Lithuanian woodcrafters will make a wooden sculpture during a fast woodcarving competition in open space; in addition, blitz tournaments will be held. During the three days, the woodcarvers will create a two-meter tall sculpture according to the selected topic that will decorate some space in the city.

The consents to participate have already been given by: Mindaugas Būga (sculptor, academician, Vilnius), Robertas Kieliauskas (frequent participant of international camps and blitz tournaments, Kaunas), Adolfas Teresius (holder of two golden wreaths, laureate of Lionginas Šepka’s prize, Garliava), Raimondas Užbravis (woodcarving master, Kaunas), Algirdas Jasiulionis (folk artist, participant of numerous camps, Kaunas), Linas Saladis (folk artist, poet, Vilkija), and Algirdas Vaištaras (artist by nature, Karmėlava).

ATEITIES GATVĖ – ZIP FM disco, laser, and light show

“The Heaven Stage” in the centre of Vilnius Str. (the stage will be installed at a height of 7-8 m above Vilnius Str.) will be occupied by ZIP FM radio station DJs and dancers who will create an atmosphere of the future city for passers-by and guests in café-bars during the late evening. From dusk till early morning Vilnius Street will be crossed by colourful laser rays, stroboscopes, and neon lights. All this will disclose comprehensively a pulse of the modern city and charm of modern culture.

FAMILY MEADOW – events for the family

During the Hanseatic Days, cosy space for youth and families will be created in Santaka Park. Guests who have come to the meadow in Santaka Park will be able to have picnic, play, listen to music, and have snacks. Hammocks and swing seats will be installed between trees on the edges of the meadow. A children’s play zone will be established in the meadow where the youngest festival participants will be able to jump on trampolines, fly kites, make huge soap bubbles, play mini football, etc. In addition, a small stage will be installed where different children collectives will give a concert, and educational programmes will be held, etc.

Right here vendors will offer for sale and introduce items for children and families. Adults will be able to participate in yoga, Lindy Hop, and callanetics classes. Near the meadow, on the initiative of the Open Kitchen, different restaurants on wheels that have become an integral part of picnicking will be at your service.

During the festival days, a huge trampoline park will operate in Santaka Park where not only children but also their parents will be able to enjoy themselves.

From May 19, 20 different fairground attractions, ranging from the childish ones to those catering to true adrenalin fans, from Holland, Germany, Austria, France, and other Western European countries will operate in this park.

CONCERT PROGRAMME

This year the concert programme of the Kaunas Hanseatic Days 2017 will be colourful and interesting in its different musical genres as never before – from the classical music and medieval minstrels to harder folk metal and jazz. On the main stage of the festival, installed in the hollow of Kaunas Castle (from the side of Papilis Street), a concert will be given by a whole range of Lithuanian performers (Thundertale, Žalvarinis, Gin Gas, and a number of other well-known groups) and guests from abroad.

CORVUS CORAX (Germany) – a festival opening event

May 19, 10.00 p.m., the main stage

Here, a medieval atmosphere interpreted in a modern way will be created by the most famous medieval music group Corvus Corax (Germany). The culmination of the first festival day will be the theatrical show “The Gates of Time”. The image and idea of the theatricalized action “The Gates of Time” will be conveyed by fakirs, DJs, lasers, pyrotechnical elements, and fireworks.

During 25 years of its existence, Corvus Corax group (Germany) has visited the major part of the world with thunderous applause. An impressive artillery of medieval music instruments: bagpipes, drums, fanfares, and lutes will roar in Kaunas. By following the traditions of medieval minstrels, the group members create impressive events into which they also try to involve the spectators. Dressed in flamboyant costumers, with impressive tattoos, hairstyles, and masks, they remind of fantastic medieval characters.

These fellows are indispensable in all major medieval carnivals, city festivals, and Hanseatic Days celebrated in Europe. The members of the group have recreated a number of medieval music instruments of Central Europe which have disappeared during the period of Renaissance and thirty-year war. They investigated medieval pictures, images in castles, studied descriptions in books, notes. Corvaxai perform compositions in different ancient languages – the ancient Latin, German. French, Serb, Albanian, and Chinese. The group has gained world fame by recording music for different historical and mystical films, such as “Merlin”.

DaGamba

An international music group DAGAMBA was set up in Latvia in 2011. The group consists of Valters Puce (cello, Latvia), Antons Trocjuks (cello, Latvia), Dainis Tenis (fortepiano, Lithuania), and Hamidreza Rahbaralam (percussion, sitar, vocal, Iran). The exceptionality of DAGAMBOS lies in the musicians’ ability to combine absolutely different music cultures into a uniform and truly unique whole. This masterfully created synthesis of sounds enables to discover in the new light the creation of not only Ludwig van Beethoven and Led Zeppelin, but also to hear the nearly paradigmatic world, rock, and popular music classics in an entirely different angle.

DE PHAZZ (Germany)

The star of the second festival day will be a cultic group of soul, Latin, trip hop, and jazz/lounge music from Germany De Phazz. De Phazz earned the first recognition in 1997. After it released a debut album “Detunized Gravity”, the group gained stunning success. Their creation ample in jazz and soul music elements has soon become true classics of its genre. The album “Audio Elastique” will be already the tenth in the general score and the ninth studio recording of the group. Critics officially announced De Phazz as godfathers of the lounge style music, whereas its music has been legally and illegally copied from the Land of the Rising Sun to the Wild West Coast.

MARTYNAS LEVICKIS

The main highlight of the Sunday evening will become a show by the accordion virtuoso Martynas Levickis. During his carrier M. Levickis has already earned more than 30 international awards. He has played with BBC concert, Birmingham city symphony, Lithuanian state symphony, and other orchestras, gave concerts in prestigious halls, such as Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall. Last autumn the performer’s concert routes already stretched from Berlin and Saint Petersburg, festivals in the United Kingdom and Switzerland, to the distant Seoul.

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