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This year, Lithuania will celebrate the already traditional Balts’ Unity Day together with its closest neighbouring country – Latvia – on 24 September in Liepāja.

The Speakers of the Parliaments of Lithuania and Latvia, and the Mayor of Liepāja will welcome participants of the celebration of the Balts’ Unity Day, which will kick off in the Liepāja Promenade. Palanga’s brass band and Liepāja’s choir “Intis” will give a concert sponsored by Lithuanian and Latvian diplomats.

The event will also be attended by members of the Lithuania-Latvia Parliamentary Friendship Groups, the countries’ Ambassadors, representatives of the Ministries of Culture and other public authorities, municipalities of border towns, non-governmental organizations, and civil society.

An extensive cultural programme includes performances by folk groups of the two countries, a fair of traditional crafts, folk art and culinary heritage, exhibitions of modern photography and contemporary art, as well as screenings of a documentary film “Vėjų žemė” (Wind Earth) and an animation film “Aukso žirgas” (The Golden Horse). The participants will also have the opportunity to listen to public readings and participate in a discussion on literature, and in other events.

The evening programme of the Balts’ Unity Day will begin at 5:00 p.m., in the Liepāja’s Great Amber Concert Hall. The National Defence Volunteer Forces of Lithuania and the Latvian National Armed Forces will give a Big Band Concert.

The event is co-organised by the Foreign Ministries of the two countries, diplomatic representations in Riga and Vilnius, the municipality of Liepāja, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia.

The celebration of the Balts’ Unity Day with the presence of high-ranking officials of both countries is one of the joint initiatives of the Lithuania-Latvia cooperation. In the previous years, the Balts’ Unity Day was celebrated in Rokiškis, Rucava, Šiauliai and Bauska.

Lithuanians and Latvians are the only descendants of the ancient Baltic tribes. The cooperation between Lithuania and Latvia has been successfully implemented during the entire period of restored independence. Lithuanians and Latvians share a feeling of ethnic identity, common heritage and cultural traditions, as well as the more recent historical experience of the 20th century, regional partnership, and collaborate in the European Union and NATO.