On Tuesday, Lithuania is celebrating Užgavėnės, its variation of the Mardi Gras and a symbolic attempt to chase out winter and welcome spring.
The Vilnius Ethnic Culture Centre will invite people to accompany Morė on her journey in several places around the capital. Morė is a woman-shaped dummy symbolising winter whose burning on a bonfire is the climax of Užgavėnės celebrations.
A duel between Kanapinis and Lašininis – “the lean one” and “the fat one” – will take place in Kudirkos Square. The outcome of the symbolic fight between winter and spring gives an insight what kind of year lies ahead, fat or lean.
“The procession of Morė is one of the most interesting and striking traditions of Užgavėnės. The procession, accompanied by noisy dress-up musicians, wakes up the Earth, brings nature out of slumber, and awakens all life after winter,” according to the Centre.
Meanwhile, the Šiauliai Cultural Centre in Lithuania’s fourth-biggest city is organising an exhibition of “Terribly Beautiful Morės” alongside a procession of witches, devils, beasts, and other characters, around 300 in total.
“Užgavėnės is one of the oldest festivals in the community and its customs were very important to our ancestors. It was believed that one should not work hard during this celebration, because then one would not have a rest for the whole year,” Deimantė Bačiulė, director of the Cultural Centre, is quoted as saying.
Užgavėnės is celebrated every year to mark the end of winter, seven weeks before Easter. The highlights of the festival are masked carnivals, games and jokes, the traditional fight between Kanapinis and Lašininis, which signify winter and spring, the burning of Morė, the spirit of winter, and “chasing winter out of the yard”.
It was believed that on the day of Užgavėņės one should not work and should eat a lot, and the traditional culinary attributes of the festival are šiupinys, pancakes, and other hearty dishes.
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