Birthday celebrations Lithuania style
Douzelage partner town Rokiškis marked its 525th anniversary with a huge cross border and pan European celebration of the founding of the Lithuanian town over the weekend of September 20th-22nd 2024.
While a celebration takes place each year, this year drew a significant number of guests from European partner towns as well as friends from the Ukraine.
The weekend started with a tour of the Manor House (now the museum of Rokiškis) – strategically built by the Tyzenhauzas family with sweeping views and a great avenue leading directly to Independence Square and the Church of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist. The house is built on beautiful parkland in which can be found 2 man made ponds. The museum is also used for events and has a very interesting history with the building being handed down through generations of the Tyzenhauzas family until it was finally handed over to the municipality.
Dinner that evening was at the “bean” restaurant serving delicious food with a twist of Lithuania!
On Saturday morning we toured some of the municipal facilities including the local swimming pool and the very impressive combined kindergarten and primary school – a wonderfully modern and welcoming school that very much focuses on its pupils being nurtured and enabling their full potential to be met through their education.
Later in the day it was time for the official ceremonies of the weekend to take place where, once again at the Manor House, I had the opportunity to deliver some remarks on behalf of the Douzelage member towns to congratulate Rokiškis on the occasion of its 525th anniversary. My remarks also included a wish for our partnership to continue for many years into the future. With this in mind, as a symbol of prosperity and good luck, it was my pleasure to present Mayor Ramūnas Godeliauskas with a traditional ceramic Irish shamrock created from shells sourced on beaches local to Bundoran.
We then made our way down the long avenue to the town square where a beautiful installation was being unveiled to mark the town’s anniversary.
Gintaras Caikauskas and Faustas Lasys from the “Architekturos lijnas” team proposed the design and won the competition to install it. As Faustas is from Rokiskis, he took advantage of the folklore of a tunnel between the church and the Manor House. Faustas told me it goes down 17 stories. I remain unconvinced!!!
Following the ceremony it was time to parade through town and to the festival area. We were all given handmade flags of our nations (and a Douzelage one!) created by the local school children which we waved proudly as we marched through Rokiškis.
The parade seemed to have a cast of thousands as the singers and groups who would perform for us later on were all welcomed to the stage and some very enjoyable performances followed to the delight of the many hundred of citizens gathered at the cultural centre. There was very much a family atmosphere in the area with market stalls and fairground rides to keep everyone entertained.
The music continued into the night and was rounded out with a fireworks display.
On Sunday the activities didn’t stop and an early lunch was on the cards to taste some genuine Lithuanian cuisine. It was also a final chance for all the delegations to gather together to discuss the weekend’s events and to arrange future contact between each other.
After many of the delegations had bade their farewells, there was time to do a guided tour of the impressive Church of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist which stands in Independence Square. As we were being shown around, rehearsals and preparations were underway for the awards ceremony and concert which would follow that afternoon so there was quite a buzz in the church. We got a real behind the scenes look then as we were guided to the bell tower which stands high above the town – the three bells still ring using the original mechanism installed over 100 years ago!
The final event of the weekend was an awards ceremony and concert at the church which consisted of the presentation of awards to nine creators from the region who were organisers of cultural projects under “Culture Curves”. The awards were last presented in 2019 and some emotional recipients gratefully received their honours. The event ended with a performance from the Vilnius municipal choir “Jauna Muzika” – one of the most prominent vocal groups in Lithuania. A resounding and beautiful end to a culture filled weekend in Rokiškis!
My thanks to our hosts the Rokiškis Municipality, especially Mayor Ramunas, Irena, Antanas, Valerijus, Reda and all the Rokiškis team. I look forward to a return visit soon.
Shane Smyth, President of Douzelage.