Well, this – the musical part of the festival – will make the audience lift their heads higher, as the music will sound from the fort’s rear caponier – right above the newly revived gates and bridge.
Read more Ministry of Agriculture responds to adverse weather: meadow maintenance deadline extended
“The festival’s slogan is to talk about warfare through creativity. That is why we decided to somewhat ‘raise’ the musicians onto the fort – to the place where there was a guard tower after the war,” says one of the “Fort-Union” organizers, head of the Kaunas Fortress Park Egidijus Bagdonas.
In fact, these will not be the only musical performances at the fort: the evening will end with Tadas Greičius’s acoustic games with echo in the newly lit tunnels where the installation “Illuminatio” will be operating, and on Sunday, the same place will host a performance by the sutartinės singing group “Sasutalas”.
Reenactors’ battle and land art plein air
Ramparts, trenches, camouflaging greenery – all this can be called military engineering, but also a land art perfected by humans over the years. Developing this idea, various land art works will be presented during the festival: for example, in Gintautas Velykis’s object, cannonballs will turn into… quail eggs.
This part of the event and military-related organizations will await festival guests in the right fort courtyard, while the left courtyard will bustle with a heritage fair and camps of reenactors from Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia.
“Since the ‘Fort-Union’ festival is part of a larger project of the same name between Lithuania and Poland, we will invite you to get acquainted not only with the activities of colleagues in Lithuania but also with partners from Poland: the Boyen and Osowiec fortresses just a few hours from Kaunas, as well as the Białystok war museum and the country’s history reenactors.
In total, we expect representatives from more than a dozen different clubs recreating not only the World War I period but also related ones: from Napoleonic soldiers to post-war partisans. Our goal is to create a unified tourism route among the mentioned border area fortresses, which are becoming relevant again today,” emphasizes E. Bagdonas.
According to him, the IV fort was also chosen for this festival not by chance. “Between the wars, the fort was taken over and operated by the Lithuanian army – we want to continue education about warfare here, so we invited various military and civic organizations to join the event: the Lithuanian army, Kaunas cadet lyceum, scouts, and during the event, it will also be possible to contribute to making trench candles for Ukrainian soldiers.”
At 6 p.m., a mini battle reenactment will take place in the left fort courtyard.
Opportunity to exchange personal identification
Since one of the festival themes is World War I, fair participants will present activities related to this theme, for example, visitors at the Kaunas Regional State Archive stand will be able to become owners of a replica of an authentic Oberost period (1915-1918) personal identification card “Personalausweis,” and at the reenactors’ camp – ride in an armored “Rolls-Royce” used during this period.
Well, while some viewers enjoy the noisy mini battle reenactment, others can participate in silent readings and learn more about how World War I affected the world’s most famous writers. For those seeking even greater tranquility – a corner with carrier pigeons, which are also inseparable from the history of Kaunas Fortress Park.
Read more Not all calls are the same: what you need to know when going to Jessica Shy’s concerts
