Record attendance at Lithuania’s foster family festival in Šiauliai

A record-breaking crowd gathered in Šiauliai Central Park on Saturday for the sixth annual Vaikai yra vaikai (Children Are Children) festival, dedicated to Lithuania’s foster families, LRT.lt reports.

Organised by the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service and Šiauliai City Municipality, the event drew over 1,500 foster families and representatives from municipal child welfare centres across Lithuania, with total attendance exceeding 5,000 people.

The festival, funded by the EU Investment Programme, the Lithuanian state, and Šiauliai’s municipal budget, offered a wide range of activities. Children and families enjoyed bubble-blowing, light-table drawing, trampoline parks, foam pools, fountain play, craft workshops, and sports demonstrations. Emergency services, including police, firefighters, the Riflemen’s Union, the Red Cross, and the Canine Club, engaged visitors with interactive displays, first-aid training, and equipment demonstrations.

A lottery awarded prizes such as footballs, bicycles, and a basket of souvenirs marking Šiauliai’s 790th anniversary. The day’s entertainment included performances by the Šiauliai Wind Orchestra, dance studios from the Šiauliai Culture Centre, singer Laura Remeikienė with her foster children, and the band Vairas. The highlight was a mass group embrace, setting a new attendance record, followed by a concert by Rokas Yan and his band.

The closing ceremony featured performances by the Šiauliai percussion group Ritmas kitaip, singers L. Remeikienė and Rolandas Janušas, and a foster care centre choir, which performed the anthem Laikyk mane (Hold Me). The symbolic Great Heart of Kindness was handed to representatives of Kaišiadorys District Municipality, signifying that next year’s festival will be held in Kaišiadorys District.