20190706_131655 Days of Living Archeology: folk music concert

Lithuanian folk music band "Ugniavijas" performs at the Days of Living Archeology. They played a set of Lithuanian traditional songs about war. It was quite amazing.

Days of Living Archeology in Kernavė (a place on the outskirts of Vilnius) resemble a Renaissance faire, but with its own Lithuanian specifics. Inside the festival grounds there aren't anywhere near as many vendors as at a typical American Ren faire, but many more exhibits. The exhibits are live, in the sense that they are reenactments of life in the Middle Ages (and before); they have people in them dressed in period clothes (sometimes that means animal skins) and doing things that people from that time period did in their daily life.

I actually liked this festival better than American Ren faires, because the commercial aspect is smaller, and the educational aspect more prominent. For example, there are demonstrations of traditional crafts -- leatherworking, spinning, weaving, beekeeping, blacksmithing, making of ethnic instruments, and many others.


The festival has several music stages and many food and drink vendors. Most vendors are stationed outside the festival grounds on a street leading to the gate. They sell all sorts of stuff, from artisanal cheeses and smoked meats to ethnic clothing, pottery and knicknacks; there are plenty of stuff for kids, such as wooden swords and shields. So overall, the commercial aspect is definitely there, it's just kept mostly outside the festival perimeter.