The Culture In a country so long oppressed as Lithuania, culture is of the outmost importance. One of the greatest events in the Baltic area is the Song Festival, recurring every fourth year. Nothing comes close in the Nordic countries. The tourists arrive in their hundreds of thousands and the city centre is inundated by armies of tourist buses.   The Song Festival in 2003 to commemorate the 750:th anniversary of king Mindaugas – the Song Evening The Song Evening is the big event of the festival. Its finish in the Vingis Park is visited by tens of thousands, with choirs of up to 3000 people, come hell or high water, or strange celestial phenomena like here. If you have never seen a 3000-head choir, go there and be amazed.   The Song Festival in 2003 – the Ensemble and Folk-dance Day The folk-dancers get all they can take from a stage on Cathedral Square, combined with a market day in the town park, where everyone gather, walk around, play and dance, ahead of the evening’s big event. And have beers.   The Song Festival in 2003 – the Ensemble and Folk-dance Evening An army of kankle-players (a small type of zither), plank-organs, thousands of dancers, ladies of the wood, and stilt-dancers. The old farming culture is shown, with its important seasons, harvest-feasts, games and dances. Everything ends with a firework   All about King Mindaugas King Mindaugas, who consolidated Lithuania from many small states, and almost got a crown from the Vatican, has been honoured with many memorials in Vilnius, like a bridge that almost looks nice when floodlit.