A Christmas surprise is being prepared for Kaunas residents: “sweet” morengine fir cake with sugar city

Next week, starting Monday, Kaunas residents will be able to witness the birth of the new Christmas tree at the town hall. It is traditionally created by artist Jolanta Šmidtienė with the team. The fir will be lit soon, on November 28.

Due to the threat of coronavirus, this time the lighting will be performed remotely, it will be broadcast live on national television, and the festive concert will take place in the empty arena “Žalgiris”, no spectators will be allowed to enter.

“This year, people are incarcerated at home due to quarantine, there is a lot of stress and depression. So we decided to create a sweet spruce, which would remind us of the warmth of home, it would give many hormones of happiness, ”said J. Šmidtienė.

The artist admitted that she is very fond of morengine cakes, so the idea came up to decorate the Christmas tree with her motifs, decorated with white clouds.

A sweet makeshift fairy tale will be installed within the frame of the Christmas tree, a model of the city made from sugar cubes. The creator hinted that citizens will be able to easily recognize Kaunas buildings and other architectural accents well known to them.

J. Šmidtienė mentioned that this year’s “sweet” fir will look impressive not only when the special lighting is turned on, but also during the day. He hoped this would allow the traffic to be distributed more evenly.

“Due to the security requirements in force in the country related to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Christmas fair and traditional educations are not planned. We are constantly monitoring the situation and if it changes, we will make an appropriate decision about the fair and other activities in the Christmas town.

The Christmas tree lighting celebration will be moved from City Hall Square to television screens this year so that Kaunas residents and people from all over Lithuania can safely watch the celebration at home, ”Nomeda Prevelienė commented, Deputy Head of the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Kaunas.

He clarified that the live television broadcast will consist of several fragments: a concert of the most famous artists in the Žalgiris Arena, where there will be no spectators, a greeting from the mayor of Kaunas Visvaldas Matijošaitis and the festive Town Hall Square.

The spread of the new viral infection is adjusting not only vacation plans, but also the funds allocated to them. It seems that Kaunas will spend less money this year than last year.

“Currently, the technicians are still deciding how much live video it will have, how much was filmed in advance, so the estimate for the event is also being revised. During the quarantine, to avoid the danger of a further spread of the coronavirus in the territory from the Kaunas city municipality, the Christmas town and its activities are re-planned. The funds were planned for the decoration of the houses of the Christmas town. When the situation changes, the funds decrease, “said N. Prevelienė, representative of the Kaunas municipality.