The Vilnius Municipality is planning to set up a music bar in the heart of the city to serve as a venue for cultural events, as well as alcohol and drug prevention.
“About a year ago, during the municipal election campaign, we started talking about the importance of the night-time economy. Today, we are back with very real action – we are setting up our first music bar,” Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas wrote on Facebook.
According to him, the music bar will serve not only as a cultural venue but also for the purpose of alcohol and drug prevention.
“Although it may sound counter-intuitive, alcohol and drug prevention must take place in the places where these substances are commonly consumed because that is where it is easiest to slip,” the mayor said.
“If we have a music programme in a bar, then there will be activities for someone who has come here for a pint of beer and for someone who will spend the whole evening with a glass of water,” he explained.
According to him, music bars in Vilnius are few because “culture does not pay”, and when culture is absent, “more alcoholic drinks are consumed”.
“That is why the city has a hand in this. On Vilniaus Street, one of the liveliest arteries of Vilnius at night, we will lease a bar space of more than 100 sqm to the first music bar through a tender,” Benkunskas said.
The main condition for the tenant “is to ensure that 100 cultural performances per year and at least one such event per week take place”, he explained.
According to the mayor, the new urban space, which will host various music, comedy, and theatre events, could open its doors to the public as early as next spring.
The same building will also house the Vilnius Night Bureau, which will provide a range of services aimed at alcohol and drug prevention, Benkunskas said.
