The youth from the Vilnius Region will commemorate the anniversary of the „Baltic Chain” with a race

On Friday, 22^nd August, the 23^rd international relay race “Baltic Chain” will start from the Vilnius cathedral. The pupils of the Sports School of the Vilnius Region will participate in the race for the first time.

 On Friday, 22^nd August, the 23^rd international relay race „Baltic Chain” will start from the Vilnius cathedral. After three days the participants will be finishing the race in Tallinn, in front of the building of the Estonian Parliament.

The pupils of the Sports School of the Vilnius Region, who will have to complete the route in the Vilnius Region, will participate in the race for the first time. 24 young sportsmen (runners and sportsmen wearing cross skates) will be representing the metropolitan region.

Each year the participants of the race are welcomed on the border of the city of Vilnius by the representatives of the local government of the Vilnius Region. This year the racers will be welcomed by the maire of the Vilnius Region Maria Rekść and the starost of Avižieniai Michał Bortkiewicz. The welcoming will take place at 11 o’clock near Avižieniai on a parking lot next to the petrol station (the road Vilnius-Panevėžys).

This year it is the 25^th anniversary of the Baltic Chain when the citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – cir. 2 million people – joined their hands, formed a “human chain” spanning from Vilnius to Tallinn, at the same time manifesting the independence of those three Baltic states from the Soviet Union.

In 2009 the action of Baltic Chain was incorporated in the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites (to the programme “World Memory”).