The Treasury of Lithuanian Folk Dance – at the Schoolchildren’s Folk Dance Ensembles Festival “In the Embrace of Childhood”

On June 1, 2025, at 6 PM, the bandstand of Šiauliai City Central Park will turn into a center of folk dance attraction – the 4th Lithuanian Schoolchildren’s Folk Dance Ensembles Festival “In the Embrace of Childhood” will take place here. Held for the fourth time and presented in various cities across the country, the festival will bring together 50 ensembles from all over Lithuania, who will present 25 different choreographic compositions. The main highlight of this year will be the unveiling of the uniqueness of Lithuania's ethnographic regions – not only through dance but also through national costumes, their colors, and patterns. The latest collection of national costumes will be presented at the festival by UAB “Rūta žalioji” – a brand that believes Lithuanian values are preserved only when passed down from generation to generation.
Organizers – Šiauliai Cultural Center, Lithuanian National Culture Center, and the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts. Partners – Lithuanian Choreographers' Association, UAB “Rūta žalioji”. The event is funded by Šiauliai City Municipality.

The 4th Lithuanian Schoolchildren’s Folk Dance Ensembles Festival “In the Embrace of Childhood” is a special event for the city of Šiauliai and the region. It is a celebration of childhood, friendship, and the spread of ethnic culture. According to Deimantė Bačiulė, the director of the Šiauliai Cultural Center and the festival, such events strengthen the city's identity – they nurture not only the dancers but the city itself, and most importantly, they activate ethnoculture.

“In the Embrace of Childhood” is not just a festival. It is a cultural event where childhood and youth merge with folk dance. Here, at the Šiauliai City Central Park’s bandstand, each dancer will become a keeper of traditions, and every step of dance will create a strong link between the past and the future. We are excited that this year, we can gather young dancers from all over Lithuania who dance for Lithuania – with sensitivity and sincerity,” says D. Bačiulė.

On June 1, dancers from all over Lithuania will come to Šiauliai – 50 ensembles with over 1,600 children and young people from various cities and towns of Lithuania will participate. The audience will witness school-age dancers, from first-graders to twelfth-graders, each of whom will convey the spirit of our nation's dance in their own unique way.

According to the festival's artistic director and chief ballet master Indrė Šerpytienė, the event's program is based on Lithuania's folk dance heritage – it reflects the children's world, game motifs, seasons, and our region's customs. The repertoire this year is divided by Lithuania's regions, so the audience will embark on a journey through Aukštaitija, Suvalkija, Dzūkija, Žemaitija, and Minor Lithuania. The event will be divided into parts: the festival will start with a prologue, followed by parts I-V and the finale. In total, the audience will see 25 different choreographic compositions at the Šiauliai City Central Park bandstand.

The festival will be adorned with specially created moving graphic visuals, which will enhance the visual impression and thematic atmosphere through nine LED strips. We are delighted that the latest collection of national costumes from UAB “Rūta žalioji” will be presented at the festival. The 16-year-old brand’s collection speaks of the warmth of hands, a deep connection to ancestral crafts, and the modern person who seeks not only beauty but also meaning. A total of 30 national costumes from all Lithuanian ethnographic regions will be presented,” says I. Šerpytienė.

The festival program will reflect not only the beauty and uniqueness of the regional national costumes but also part of the 2026 Lithuanian Schoolchildren’s Song Festival Dance Day "Ratu ratu" repertoire – this is a unique opportunity for Šiauliai residents and visitors to be the first to see how Lithuanian traditions are revived and how they move forward into the future through the eyes of children.

The creative team of the festival this year includes festival director Deimantė Bačiulė, artistic director and chief ballet master Indrė Šerpytienė, assistant artistic director Evaldas Račkauskas, assistant artistic director Greta Šveikauskaitė, scriptwriter Jovita Lubienė, festival coordinator Aušra Brijūnienė, visual artist Irmantas Myniotas, chief ballet masters: Evaldas Račkauskas, Sonata Jankienė, Rimutė Zaleckaitė, Danguolė Dapšytė, Jolanta Tendienė, ballet masters: Greta Šveikauskaitė, Ramunė Zelbienė, Olga Gross, Eglė Vitkauskienė. This is a team of talented individuals, thanks to whom the festival becomes not only an event but an artistic occasion with deep ethnocultural content.

All information about the Lithuanian Schoolchildren’s Folk Dance Ensembles Festival “In the Embrace of Childhood” can be found on the Šiauliai Cultural Center's website (www.siauliukc.lt).

For information, please contact the Head of the Šiauliai Cultural Center’s Amateurs’ Arts Department, Aušra Brijūnienė, mobile: +370 655 25 527, email: ausra.brijuniene@siauliukc.lt.

Photos by Rolandas Parafinavičius and Liubov Yarmoshenko.