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St Casimir's Day Fair
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When:
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Mar 2008 (annual)
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Where:
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Vilnius
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| Costs: |
Free, except for what you buy!
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| Opening Hours: |
All day
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Saint Casimir, the patron saint of Lithuania, is honoured every year in Vilnius with a fair that dates back to the 17th century.
Casimir (Kazimieras) was prince of both Poland and Lithuania. Devout to a fault he died young, on 4 March 1484, aged only 25. In 1948 Pope Pius XII made Casimir patron saint of youth.
Lithuanians commemorate his death day with a celebration that welcomes the spring, and the three-day fair, taking place over the nearest weekend to the actual day, fills Vilnius' main marketplace with folk art, crafts, music and dance. It attracts thousands of people from all over the country.
Epitomising the fair are lily-shaped palms made of colourful dried flowers and herbs, called verbos, traditionally taken to church on Palm Sunday.
Another highlight of the fair is the muginuka, a heart-shaped honey cookies decorated with coloured sugar flowers, zig-zags, dots and birds. Popular names are written on the cookies, which people buy for their loved ones. It is customary to take a cookie home for anyone who missed the festival.
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