Hanza Kaunas 2011

Will the medieval spirit be felt is the air?

Clanger of the sward of the medieval knights, the garden of witches, numbers of tradesmen, performances of musicians and artists and thousands of guests - this is the picture drawn by the organisers of the international Hanseatic Days to take place after a couple of years.

Regard of the government needed

"The worst thing is that the government are unconscious of the dimension and the importance of the event", admits Andrius Žiurauskas, one of the organisers and directors of the festival. He fears whether they will have managed to prepare for the festival properly by 2011.

A special work group formed by the local government have discussed the conception of the event and analysed the experience of other cities. The group reckoned up the approximate funds required and evaluated the benefit that the event may bring to Kaunas. The public institution "Hansa Kaunas 2011", who organise the festival, introduced the location of the events to take place on May 19-21, 2011.

The organisation prospered already in the middle ages and now it unites 167 towns of fifteen countries. The representatives gather together in one of the town every year. In 1995, Kaunas was granted the right to organise the international festival of the union of the Hansa towns in 2011.

In 2005, the international Hanseatic Days took place in a Kaunas' twin town Tartu, Estonia. Referring to the experience of Estonians, the organisers are expecting the representatives of more than a hundred towns of the Hansa union and about 250 thousand other guests to come. According to the preliminary calculations, the international event will cost approximately 1.7 million litas. The organisers have no doubt though that Kaunas will also make great profit of it.

"Only after a visit to such a festival in another country do our politicians realise that the event is not only important to the city but to the country as well. Thus attention and mutual understanding are the things that we are really lacking so far", admits Žiurauskas.

Appreciates other experiences

"In such festivals, the medieval spirit is felt in the air. The effect is incomparable", says the town councillor Justinas Krėpšta, who participated in the international Hansa festivals in Sweden and Estonia. The councillor hopes that the event to take place in Kaunas after two years will put the city on the map.

It is for three years running that the Hanseatic Days have taken place in Kaunas. There is a certain input and experience to base on. Thus we are on the right course", assures Krėpšta. He says he has no doubt that Kaunas is also able to organise an attractive feast for people and the Meddle Ages is a splendid idea for the theme.

At the beginning of June, the Hanseatic Days are organised in Veliky Novgorod, Russia. Several politicians of the city, representatives of the local government administration and the organisers of the event in 2011 are going to come to the festival. "When they return they share their experiences and we hope that this will encourage our government to attend to the organisation of the festival", says Žiurauskas.

Interested not only in the festival

Kaunas must present itself to the guest of the festival as an attractive city where one can have a pleasant time. According to the director of "Hansa Kaunas 2011" Darius Rumšas, the first task to get on with is to prepare the sites for the festival.

"Almost all the events will take place in the Old Town. Some of the building here not only look glumly but they also endanger people. As the motto of the festival is "Retrace, revive, be proud" thus the foreign guests of Kaunas may wonder why we do not renew the buildings", observes Žiurauskas.

The endless litigation for the former Jewish hospital in A. Jakšto Street fend the town off from restoring the collapsing building that spoils the view of the city. In Muziejus street, the organisers would like to open the vegetable market but what occupy the place there is burnt storehouses.

We are worried about the building on the corner of Muitinės street and Aleksoto Street handed over to the Lithuanian Academy of Fine Arts. The corner of the derelict building overlooks the Town Hall Square which will be the centre of the festival events. It is the place where the pavilions of other Hanseatic Towns are planned to be located. In the very hall, the 24-hour informational centre of the festival is going to be established.

There is no definite plan how the renovations are going to be carried out so far. "If the reconstructions of the Kaunas castle were performed during the festival we will lose much", warns Rumšas.

The local government is not able to tell whether the problems will be tackled before the international Hanseatic Days yet. If the litigation for the Jewish hospital persists the building may collapse before the decision is made. We cannot do anything now", observes the vice-mayor Rimantas Mikaitis, the head of the work group. He engaged to see the reconstruction works done on time.

Next year, the approaches to the castle and the paths of Confluence Park are planned to be lightened by the funds of the regional dimension of the European Union. Unfortunately, there is little hope that the building belonging to the Academy of Fine Arts will receive the town guests looking better than now.

"If the town decides to organise a festival everyone must help creating it: from the journalist to the sweeper. However, it seems now that the festival is only the concern of the organisers", maintains Žiurauskas.

The information source Kauno diena.