Near Vilnius, you have found a great amusement park, where you can enjoy free entertainment throughout the day.

Finding a park is easy. Turning left at kilometer 45 of the Vilna-Utena highway and driving another five kilometers, we find ourselves at the wooden gate of the park. When we reached the park, we entered a large area, and Kazimieras Nomeika, one of the hosts, met at his entrances. Together with him we went on a tour, accompanied by picturesque comments from the host. The unusual shows enveloped us so much that we didn’t even feel like an hour and a half had passed.

Visitors to Žalvaris Park are welcome every day. Visiting the park is free (unless you want a pre-booked guided tour), but it is suggested that you contribute to the maintenance of the park on a voluntary basis. Just don’t be fooled by hearing the name of the park: there are no bronze objects or sculptures here, just a few miles away is the brass settlement, thus the name of the park was born.

Its founder, Algirdas Nomeika, is one of the most famous event organizers in Lithuania. Its most famous events are the beer festivals in Vilnius and Trakai, the “Padangių gėlės” balloon festival and many others. Most of the exhibits scattered throughout the territory came from various Vilnius parks, which were once headed by A. Nomeika, therefore older park visitors may recall that they once saw the exhibits here in Vingis Park, the Town Hall Square or theater stages.

“This park was founded by my father Algirdas Nomeika, he is no longer with us. We, his children, have taken care of the park, but we all have our work and we only go around here in our free time, and it is always missing. My dad had infinite ideas, some implemented in this area. The goal of the park’s founder is to show that all ideas can be realized, that every idea can come true, “said Kazimieras Nomeika, who is hosting the park today.

In the center of Žalvaris Park is a two-headed farmhouse, a clay-walled barn converted into a ballroom, a guest barn, and a classic smoke sauna. Around, in an area of ​​several hectares, the inexhaustible imagination of the park owners is revealed, mainly various accessories for events or works that convey the world view of the park managers. For aesthetics lovers, you can catch grass that has not been cut everywhere, broken wooden tracks, or displays. Perhaps the objects in the park are reminiscent of the old remains, but for skeptics, the owners offer to look at everything from a different angle.

“Many objects were no longer needed for anyone, they were worn out and reborn here, that’s how we emphasize the importance of secondary use. Here are icebergs made from plastic bottles floating in a small pond, so we visually explained to children that nature must be protected, that you cannot litter, “says Kazimieras Nomeika.

At the pond in the middle of the courtyard, not only the hosts but also the guests cool off on hot summer days, and various celebrations are held in the spacious gazebo built next to the body of water.

Not only because of the relatively large area, but also because of the desire to try unusual exhibits: ghosts, old carousels, a house of curved mirrors, an iron rocket and many other objects fascinate children.

According to the hosts, adults want to try out the ancient attractions, no less than the park’s little visitors. One of the most photogenic exhibitions is an open-air cinema with original seats. You can descend into the makeshift cinema with a rolling slide, flying through large metal pipes.

Remember the theme parks that operated more than 20 years ago, where traveling with electric cars was one of the most fun hobbies? Electric cars that once delighted in Vingis Park now perform as movie chairs. The park’s owners joke that this is the first drive’in cinema in Lithuania, which has become popular across the country during the quarantine.

Each exhibit has its own story: the horse sculptures placed on a hill in the meadow are covered with pieces of white material and look like a herd of ghosts. It turns out that once this army of horses was a beautiful decoration of the theater stage. K. Nomeika says that one of the horses was raised by a balloon on July 15, 2010 near Kaunas Castle. To commemorate the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald, fireworks were fired at him.

Next to the birch is a hollow Puntukas, it has a room with curved mirrors. According to Kazimieras, son of the park’s founder, nothing was impossible for his father, he was sure that a great desire was enough. A. Nometa proved this by bringing Puntukas to Vilnius. In 2009, when Vilnius became the European Capital of Culture, the object was located near the White Bridge.

In the record hangar you can see a 28-seater European sauna made from a German car, the largest mouthpiece to have traveled to several cities, the longest grill and other exhibits in the Guinness Book of Records.

The old park map marks almost fifty points: objects with their own stories, a symbolic idea, but it is no longer shared with visitors. The park is constantly complemented by new objects, and some old ones, affected by sun, rain and snow, simply disappear from here, so K. Nomeika draws a new outline of the park.

The telescope, the Tower of the Sun, the Stalker, the Foucault’s Pendulum, the Alley of the Revolution, the Creative Prison, the Alcosaur, the Egozaur are just some of the park’s sculptures and structures.

We visited both the outdoor solarium installed on the hill, the interior of which is lined with special aluminum foil, and without the interior the heat in the place where the heat is concentrated, it is quite hot and you can sunbathe.

We passed a wooden log trail through the swamp, which after rain resembles a skating rink and becomes a true test of balance. Noticing the careful footsteps of me and the photographer, the host says that the more adventurous visitors are even holding competitions here, which will soon run down the wooden logs without attacking the swamp.

Excursions to Žalvaris Park generally start in April, the most intensive visit is in summer. Relaxing the quarantine will attract more individual visitors this year, and K. Nomeika hopes to renew the children’s and group tours in mid-summer. “We organize excursions for groups of different ages: during them we try a lot of entertainment, educational nature lessons for children, an intensive 4-hour program is prepared. We also organize summer camps for children.”

The interlocutor affirms that the park does not pay, it cannot pay, because there are still ideas that must be done, to invest again, and visiting the park is not subject to taxes. “Next year, we are considering monetizing the park’s activities, because we no longer manage the area, so we should hire someone to help take care of the park’s infrastructure,” says the co-owner of Žalvaris Park.