20190706_134702 The yard of the Onogurs
The sign above the hut says "Onogurų genties kiemas IX a" -- the yard of an Onogur tribe from the 9th century. The Onogurs, according to Wikipedia, were Turkic nomadic equestrians (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ono%C4%9Furs). The re-enactors were from Hungary.
We caught a performance of a Hungarian folk music band Kajan. Oddly enough, I couldn't find any information about them on the internet. I found an Ukrainian band also called Kajan, but it's definitely not a folk band.
Days of Living Archeology in Kernave (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), 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. It features demonstrations of traditional crafts -- leatherworking, spinning, weaving, beekeeping, blacksmithing, making of traditional music 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.
July 2019
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