Atgal

Mardi Gras verdict in Šiauliai: spring is on its way

2025 February 25 - March 4. The "Terribly Beautiful More" exhibition and competition was held on Kaštonai Alley, which attracted great interest. Not only schools, kindergartens and libraries actively participated, but also other institutions that joined this tradition. Among the almost 30 participants were both new faces and long-time Mardi Gras enthusiasts. On March 4, Šiauliai faced the fight against winter head-on - it welcomed spring with a farewell party for the "Terribly Beautiful More" and a festive concert. The celebration brought together many curious people, Šiauliai residents and city guests who missed spring. After the concert, a farewell was held at the Žaliūkiai miller's homestead of the Šiauliai "Aušra" museum.
Organizer - Šiauliai City Municipality, Šiauliai Cultural Center.

The Mardi Gras-themed initiative “The Farewell of the Terribly Beautiful Morias” began on the evening of March 4th in Kaštonų Alley, where the exceptional participants of the “Terribly Beautiful Morias” competition were exhibited. This year, 29 schools, kindergartens, libraries, and various cultural and public institutions dared to compete, demonstrating creativity and imagination in creating traditional winter symbols. Šiauliai residents actively participated in the voting – they selected their favorites on the Šiauliai Cultural Center’s Facebook account, expressing their sympathies with various emoticons. Each Moria was unique and charmingly creepy in its own way, but the votes of Internet users determined that this year the following children came out on top of the competition: the first place was won by the kindergarten “Eglutė”, the second place was occupied by the International Ukrainian School, and the third place winner was the kindergarten “Pupų pėdas”. The organizers also did not remain indifferent to the creativity of the participants – they awarded the sympathy nomination to the Morea created by the kindergarten “Bitė”. All winners were awarded prizes established by the sponsors – UAB “Rūta”, “Akropolios ledas”, “Drift Karting” and Šiauliai Cultural Centre. And so that the festive mood would not fade for anyone, each participant was presented with sweet gifts from the “Prezo” bakery.

The noisy procession of the farewell of the Moreas with the participants of the exhibition and competition, accompanied by the rhythm group “Ritmas itaipt” (led by A. Banys) and the children's and youth folklore ensemble of the Šiauliai City Song Music School “Vieversėlis” (led by Arūnas Stankus), traveled from Kaštonų alley to Vilniaus g. boulevard and reached P. Višinskis Square, where real fun awaited: a fierce duel between Lašininis and Kanapinis took place, symbolizing the struggle between winter and spring, after which a concert by the Eurovision LT finalist group “Black Biceps” invited people to move their legs cheerfully. Nearby, the 2-meter Morė created by the artist of the Šiauliai Cultural Center Reda Uogintienė attracted the attention of the audience.

The culmination of the event – sending Morė to the dausas – took place at the Šiauliai “Aušra” Museum’s Žaliūkiai miller’s homestead-museum. This is an ancient tradition, symbolizing farewell to winter and welcoming spring. It is believed that burning Morė will also remove all winter misfortunes, bring a fruitful year and encourage the start of new work.

The organizers express their gratitude to everyone who participated in the competition “Awfully Beautiful Morė”. This year, 29 participants demonstrated their creativity and nurturing of traditions: Šiauliai City Municipality Public Library, Šiauliai “Saulėtekios” Gymnasium, Šiauliai Petros Avižonis Educational Center, Šiauliai “Saulė” Primary School, Šiauliai Dainų Progymnasium, Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten “Kregždutė”, Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten “Voveraitė”, Šiauliai County Povilas Višinskis Public Library, Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten “Gluosnis”, Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten “Eglutė”, Šiauliai “Santarvės” Gymnasium, Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten “Pasaka”, Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten “Berželis”, Šiauliai Gegužiai Progymnasium Club “Eko dirbtuvėlės”, Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten “Salduvė”, International Ukrainian School, Šiauliai City Branch of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, Šiauliai Simonas Daukantas Engineering Gymnasium, Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten "Pupų pėdas", Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten "Ąžuoliukas", Šiauliai Technology Training Center Trade and Business Department, Šiauliai Gytarių Progymnasium, Šiauliai City Municipality Nursing Home Unit Day Center "Goda", Šiauliai City Municipality Social Services Center Care Center "Children are Children. Šiauliai", Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten "Bitė", Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten "Gintarėlis", Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten "Ežerėlis", Šiauliai Nursery-Kindergarten "Sigutė", Šiauliai "Romuvos" Progymnasium.

The initiative dedicated to Mardi Gras not only fosters cultural heritage, but also strengthens community spirit, brings people together for shared joy and provides an opportunity to step away from everyday life for a while, feel the festive mood, and at the same time continue old traditions that give a sense of identity and allow you to feel a connection with your history.

Sponsors: UAB “Rūta”, “Akropolios ledas”, “Crazy cart”, “Prezo” bakery. Informational sponsors: “Šiaulių kraštas”, media group “Etaplius”, “Miesto naujienos”. Friends: Šiaulių “Aušros” museum, Šiaulių border guard of the VSAT Pagėgiai border team.

Information is provided by Jūratė Kašinskienė, cultural events organizer of the Event Organization Department of the Šiaulių Cultural Center, tel. +370 655 25 521, e-mail jurate.kasinskiene@siauliukc.lt.

Photo by Gintarė Daknytė.