Fire unites generations, families, tribes, and the worlds of the living and the gods and the dead. It connects and warms, but it also destroys and painfully ends destinies. Fire is an emotional state that emerges at the extremes of one’s life. Fire is an element that man has sought to control and tame, without offending it, by covering it with ash at night, by using wood to resurrect it in the morning.

Fire is our Baltic identity, deeply rooted in our blood. That is why we yearn for it, and in the flickering of the fire we find our inner peace, our purpose, as if in a mirror, we see our soul, and we remember those who have left our world.

There was never a moment without fire in the lives of the Baltic nations. From cooking, household and farm chores to spiritual matters, the eternal fire in the altars of the Baltic temples.

Fire is never absent during the Mėnuo Juodaragis, but it has never been as much in focus as it is this year. In the Craft Yard, you will be able to observe and try crafts that would be impossible to do without fire. Blacksmiths will gather us around the blazing forge fire. They will turn night into day with thousands of sparks that will amaze each and every one of us. Drops of brass will softly melt into ceramic or stone in the jewellers’ workshops, and we will all be able to see how old pins and brass bells were created.

We will make clay lanterns in the pottery workshop, and with the masters of the Vilnius Potters’ Guild we will sculpt and watch the impressive underground ceramic burning.
Drops of fiery beverages will be extracted using our oldest equipment, and the brewers of the Latava village will introduce a unique roasted beer from the Anykščiai region. Make sure you stop by for a chat, a drink and a song.

Under the hands of Algirdas Juškevičius, a gifted wood carver from the Dzūkija region, the wood will be transformed into phoenixes, which are compared to Lithuanian mythological kites. The Craft Yard will not only include wax candle making but also traditional wax painting on eggs. Audronė Lampickienė, a famous folk artist from the Dzūkija region, will be presenting the art of traditional egg painting.

As usual, Erikas Čypas and Ramūnas Čižas will entertain us with their brewing stories and Erikas Hincas will astonish us with leaven pottery.

The experimental archaeology club Pajauta will present historical cuisine, as well as invite people to gather around the fire for songs. In the evenings, Algirdas Breidokas and Laimutis Vasilevičius will tell folktales by the mighty oak tree in the Craft Yard.

This year we will be joined by our friends from Ukraine, the Čorna Galyč living history club from Lviv, who will add historical Ukrainian culture to our yard’s activities. Let’s offer our warmest regards to the soldiers at the battlefront, pay tribute to those who have fallen in battle, and come to say a supporting word!

A sailor summons the wind to the sails – wind, wind, wind!

Our tribesmen summon fire to the Craft Yard – fire, fire, fire!