Lithuania’s School Song Celebration begins in Vilnius on Friday with a record 24,000-plus participants, making it the largest edition since the country regained independence, organisers said.
The four-day event, held once every decade, will bring together school choirs, dance groups and orchestras from across Lithuania. It will open with a procession along Gedimino Avenue and conclude Sunday, Statehood Day commemorating the coronation of King Mindaugas, with the traditional Song Day concert at Vingio Park.
Organisers said this year’s festival introduces several firsts, including new crowd management measures and expanded security planning.
Attendance at the closing concert in Vingio Park will be capped at 30,000 spectators. Even though admission is free, visitors must register in advance through the ticketing system and obtain a zero-value ticket.
“People need to register in the ticketing system and receive a free ticket, either in the mobile app or printed out,” School Song Celebration Director Dainius Numgaudis said. “This is being done for security reasons and so we can manage visitor flows.”
Numgaudis said tickets for all other festival events have already sold out for the first time in the celebration’s history.
This year’s program also includes several standalone events making their debut, including a dedicated brass band day and an accordion concert at St John’s Church.
The closing Song Day performance will begin with a moment of silence and feature sign language performed by deaf participants before opening with “Aš padainuosiu dainų dainelę”, a song closely associated with the Lithuanian song festival tradition.
“We will begin in complete silence with sign language,” Song Day artistic director Vytautas Miškinis said. “It is a message that should be meaningful to everyone.”
Organisers have placed particular emphasis on participant safety following two nationwide air raid alerts issued in Lithuania in May.
The Fire and Rescue Department inspected 74 schools that will accommodate festival participants, assessing shelter conditions and emergency preparedness.
“Evacuation plans have been prepared for every scenario,” Fire and Rescue Department Director Renatas Požėla said. “People would be evacuated from event venues in an organised manner, making use of terrain features, trees and nearby woodland where appropriate.”
Special evacuation procedures have also been prepared for the Arena Vilnius venue, which will host Dance Day performances.
Participants would receive instructions directing them toward designated evacuation routes, including nearby commercial and business areas, while some people could remain inside the arena if necessary, Požėla said.
A full-scale evacuation exercise is scheduled for July 5 following the general rehearsal at Vingio Park.
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