This Year’s Kaziuko Fair and Its Blue-yellow Accents

Last weekend streets of Vilnius were tinged with thousands of colors of the Kaziuko Fair. This year dominated blue-yellow accents.

The grand opening of Kaziuko Fair took place on Friday, March 4, on Saint Casimir’s—patron of Lithuania—name day. Nearly 800 craftsmen and merchants took part in the fair that lasted until Sunday. It’s a hundred more participants than in previous years, as the fair’s organizers pointed out. The fair’s opening was accompanied by a procession of craftspeople; at noon they marched down the Giedymin avenue, from Łukiski square, and to the cathedral.

Kaziuko hearts, lollipops, bagels, and more

As usual, the party attracted a lot of attention from the residents and tourists. It was possible to buy wicker, ceramic, forged, and handwoven products, basketry, wooden spoons, bowls, rollers, pastry boards. There were plenty of stalls with multi-colored Kaziuko hearts, lollipops, gingerbread, and bagels. There was also a wide selection of leather goods, silverware, amber, and woolen products. The streets bloomed with palm trees. Painters presented their works of art. For the first time, members of The Creative Association of Polish painters in Lithuania “Elipsa” had their own stall where they were selling paintings, greeting and holiday cards, stained glass, hand-forged metalwork, and palms. Kaziuko products could be admired and purchased on Giedymin avenue, Vincas Kudirka square, Cathedral square, in the Old Town. Folk bands were playing in the streets.

Traditional Lithuanian cuisine

There were also plenty of traditional meals — stalls groaned under the weight of cold meats, bread, dumplings, cheese, homemade beers, and honey. It was possible to try traditional Lithuanian meals — cepelinai, potato sausage, blini with various fillings, and kvass. On Sunday, the fair’s closing day, a huge puppet of St. Casimir marched through the streets, controlled by strings.

This year’s Kaziuko Fair and its blue-yellow accents

This year’s color palette was dominated by blue-yellow accents. Craftsmen and artists prepared a lot of products in these colors. There were blue-yellow birds and flours from wood or ceramic, countless buntings like Ukrainian flags were flying over the heads of people. Reacting to events ongoing in Ukraine, Kaziuko fair’s participants also joined in to support the country damaged by war.

Support for Ukraine

During the fair, on Vincas Kudirka street, an auction of craftsmen’s works took place. Collected funds will be sent to one of the aid funds for Ukraine. As part of the “Come Borsch, Support Ukraine” initiative, the fair’s participants were invited for a tasting of Ukrainian borsch. Money earned this way will be spent on the purchase of humanitarian aid for the fighting nation of Ukraine.

Security measures during the fair

Before the start of the fair, its organizers called for taking all security measures and following the existing rules. They warned that the covid situation in Lithuania is still dangerous. To masses of people in certain places, stalls were set on one side of the street. However, not all crowds could be avoided, and the weather was also nice that day. It seemed that everyone forgot about facemasks and keeping a safe distance. After long winter, everyone enjoyed the sun and spring.