Catholics worldwide will celebrate Easter on 9 April - and so will we! This celebration of spring, rebirth and hope is an excellent opportunity to take stock of how much good we have in our homes and our city. If you are in Kaunas before the weekend, be sure to visit the exhibition of Easter Egg drawings by Tadas Daugirdas at the A. and P. Galaunė House-Museum, where drawings created during his visits to the former Ukrainian governorates are on display. “The exhibition is inspired by the war in Ukraine. When people who have lost their homes and homeland settle in Kaunas, we want to show something close and our own, spiritually warming and strengthening, conveying the strength of ancestral spirit. Now, this idea is being realised and spreading Easter hope,” tells the text of the exhibition.
We want to remind you that most cultural institutions - museums, cinemas, and concert halls - will be closed on Sunday, 9 April. On the second day of Easter, Monday, 10 April, Žalgiris will welcome the Šiauliai team to their home arena.
Photo by A. Aleksandravičius
Picturesque, smooth, inspiring - all these words are not only valid for our city but also for the Kaunas Marathon, whose participants will flood the streets of the city centre and the Old Town for the 11th time this year. On 23 April, everyone can join in - if not to try their hand at the marathon, half marathon or any other route, then to support friends and family, to have a fun time together. There will also be concerts, fairs, lectures and training!
The VMU Botanical Garden, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has prepared special events for the whole year. Visit every week this spring to enjoy a new patch of awakening nature!
You’ll also find lush greenery in the city’s parks. The 21st-century tradition of taking selfies in front of the flowering sakura trees is maintained in Kaunas on Nemunas Island. Here, a sakura orchard was planted to commemorate the deeds of Chiune Sugihara.
The Kaunas Oak Grove and the Confluence Park are two of the very popular walking and jogging spots. Kalniečiai, Draugystės, and Santarvės parks delight those who live away from the city centre. With a cup of coffee or tea, or maybe a four-legged friend, it’s always fun in the Panemunė grove (great for jogging or pedalling) and Kleboniškis Forest. It will be fascinating to see how the recently revitalised Vienybės Square and Student Square in the very centre of Kaunas will look this year... And one of the most secret but open to all green spaces is the VMU Multifunctional Centre at V. Putvinskio str. 23 - on the roof!
Photo by A. Aleksandravičius
Kaunas is gearing up for an intense May. The Euroleague Final Four weekend awaits, followed immediately by the city’s birthday, which will include the longest dinner in the region, also known as the “Courtyard Festival”. And what about Kaunas Literature Week, a “must-visit” event for every reader? For those who can’t live without the blue of the sky, Zapyškis is the place to be in May - it hosts the annual kite festival “Between the Earth and the Sky”, whose attendance is as high as that of a rock concert.
Already in April, you have the kaunastic opportunity to warm up your joints, wear new shoes and party your heart out. The Kaunas Jazz festival has been giving everyone plenty of chances to do just that for more than three decades now, and since the 1990s, no proper spring has begun in the city without it. This year’s programme will feature the first-ever concerts in our country by British vocalist Zara McFarlane, one of the world’s most famous jazz singers Kurt Elling, a special programme at the Kaunas Choir Synagogue, Polish and Latvian jazz and many other fantastic opportunities to immerse yourself in the music in different venues. Kicking off on 21 April!
Also on 21 April is the night for “Prisukamas Abrikosas”. The tradition of Kaunas techno parties, which has turned into a festival, will take over yet another object of Kaunas industrial heritage - the former factory giant in Žemieji Šančiai, Drobė. Electronic sounds from Amsterdam, Brussels, Chicago, and, of course, Lithuania await the ravers. “In the vaults of Fabrikas, a real film awaits you again, with unexpected situations, flashbacks and climaxes, where you are always the protagonist,” the organisers promise.
For more kaunastic tips, visit the Kaunas IN Tourism Information Centre at Laisvės al. 36. You can choose from dozens of “It’s Kaunastic” itineraries published in a handy format. We’ll also tell you all about our themed excursions and answer any other Kaunas-related questions you might have.
Cover photo by A. Aleksandravičius
