View the cover of this issue.
View interior pages.

Rock and Roll. The Lithuanian Song Festival will cover many styles and venues this weekend, but last night, it was all rock and roll, Lithuanian style featuring Marijonas Mikutavicius in concert. Staff photo by Rob Beintema.

They may be few in number, but Lithuanians sure know how to party. More than 1,000 people from Lithuanian communities in North America and Europe filled Malton’s International Centre last night to kick off the IX Festival of Song with a concert by legendary Lithuanian musician Marijonas Mikutavicius.

Festival of Song, a weekend gathering of the worldwide Lithuanian community, rotates every four years between cities with large Lithuanian populations. Back in the Greater Toronto Area after more than three decades, the much-anticipated festival is a chance for this close-knit yet far-flung community to renew past connections while welcoming new members.

“Everyone’s sort of dispersed all over the place, so this weekend is a nice way to get together and keep in touch with people from all over the world,” said Vilija Peciulis, 25, as excitedly greeted old friends from Chicago and Cleveland who she only sees at events like these.

The festival is the undisputed highlight of the year, said Ramune Jonusonis.

“I was laughing earlier that I bet every single person that I know in the Lithuanian community is going to be here tonight. It’s all-encompassing,” said Jonusonis, 24.

The centerpiece of the festival is “I Am The Song,” a massed choir concert that will see some 1,200 singers from across Canada, the US, England, Poland and Lithuania — including Mississauga’s Vaiku chorus Gintareliai — take the stage Sunday to perform traditional folk songs.

“We’re a very strong community even though our numbers are less (than in Chicago, the previous host), so to have so many choirs come to Toronto is a huge achievement for a small community such as ours. We’re very proud,” said Dalia Peddle, a festival organizer.

Seeing Lithuanians of all ages singing together will be a moving experience, agreed Peciulis.

“My dad’s singing in it, so I’m definitely going. He’s been very passionate about singing all his life, and as soon as he heard there was a joint choir, he said, send me!” she said with a laugh.

But Mikutavicius was the draw last night, as throngs of excited young people — and some adventurous elders — planted themselves at the foot of the stage and stayed there, belting out rock songs and folk melodies with Lithuania’s biggest star.

The loudest applause was saved for Trys Milijonai (Three Million, roughly the global Lithuanian population), the empowering chart-topping song by Mikutavicius that has become the Baltic state’s unofficial anthem.

“(The festival) is just a good way to have a great time, keep the tradition alive, and keep the community together,” said Julia Simonelis, 25, who along with Jonusonis arranged Saturday night’s street party at the Marriot Airport Hotel, after which scores of young people plan to keep dancing right into Mississauga’s Lithuanian Martyrs’ Church for 10 a.m. Sunday mass.

“That’s what makes this weekend so great,” said Lukas Turczyz, 24, sipping a Svyturys, Lithuania’s signature beer. “There’s something for all ages. We sing, dance, drink, listen, and of course, socialize.”

The choir concert takes place Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Hershey Centre, and the festival concludes back at the International Centre that night with a gala dinner dance.

Check out the amazing photos by the Festival`s official photographer!  New photos are added daily, and they’re now available for purchase.

Choose your images and email the file numbers to photovisionsdigital@rogers.com

You will receive an electronic invoice ($5 per image) through Paypal.  When payment is made, your high resolution images will be sent to your email.

CD’s and prints are available as well. Please inquire about cost and shipping charges.

Please share your Festival photos with us by sending them to info@dainusvente.org. 

We also invite you to join the Facebook group Memories of the IX išeivijos Dainų šventė.

Free parking is available during the events at the International and Hershey Centres.

Street party food tickets will be available in advance at the Marriott Hotel on Friday. Buy them in advance to avoid line-ups on Saturday.

Paulius and Rasa, in the Parish of the Resurrection board room where the organizing committee has been meeting over the last four years.

A festival celebrating Lithuanian music and culture is staging several of its events in Mississauga this weekend (July 2-4).

The IX Lithuanian Song Festival will host a pair of concerts in Mississauga — Friday at the International Centre in Malton and Sunday at the Hershey Centre. Also, Mississauga’s Lithuanian Martyrs’ Church will host a mass on Sunday at 10 a.m. The festival concludes with a Sunday gala and dance at the International Centre. On Friday, Marijonas Mikutavicius performs. He’s a well-known Lithuanian singer, musician and songwriter responsible for the hit song Trys Milijonai (Three Million).

Mikutavicius started his career with the group, Bovy, and has been named best vocalist at the Latvian music festival, Liepajas Dzintars. Tickets cost $45. Show time is 8:30 p.m.

On Sunday, the I Am the Song concert takes place at the Hershey Centre. It features choral and vocal performances of traditional Lithuanian music, which were brought from Lithuania to Canada by immigrants and passed down from generation to generation.

Dozens of choirs will take part, including Mississauga’s Vaiku choras Gintareliai. Other choirs are from places including Chicago, Florida, Cleveland, Boston and across Canada and Europe. Show time is 2 p.m. Tickets cost $40 to $45.

The gala starts at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $35 to $100.

For more information, or tickets, visit www.lithuaniansongfest.org.

Tickets for the Song Festival Concert are available up to and including Sunday, July 4 at www.ticketmaster.ca, by calling
1-416-870-8000 and at the Hershey Centre box office.

Tickets to all other events may be purchased beginning July 2 at the Airport Marriott Information Centre and at the events.

BRAVO, our young singers!