July 11-18 will see Nida welcome summer visitors with the 24th Thomas Mann Festival, offering a series of events named after the great German writer and admirer of the Curonian Spit.
The organisers of the festival say there is a huge amount of interest in the scheduled events. Visitors will have an opportunity to enjoy classical music, watch films, participate in literary debates and discuss other topics – all united by this year’s theme ‘Weather Signs’.
In order to ensure the safety of the festival guests, this year’s programme is not as fully-packed as usual. However, the planned schedule for each day is very diverse and will traditionally centre around music, literature, art and cinema. Many devoted fans of the festival will take part this year, joined by first-time visitors from Lithuania as well as from overseas.
“The pandemic had a negative impact on everyone’s plans. We were also forced to reconfigure our schedule of events which we have been working on for a while. But we never allowed ourselves to doubt that the annual festival will take place this year and will bring together great crowds of like-minded people,” says Lina Motuzienė, the head of the Thomas Mann Cultural Centre which organises the event.
“We set ourselves the goal to adapt to the change in circumstances and to preserve the tradition of the festival ahead of its 25th anniversary next year. We are particularly grateful to all of our long-standing partners for their involvement.”
The festival will open on July 11 with a concert headlined by the world-famous Lithuanian conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the chamber choir Aidija. During the next few days the beautifully compact Nida Lutheran Church will host the Kaunas String Quartet, the Kaskados piano trio, other ensembles and soloists. An extensive repertoire, as usual, will include diverse performances ranging from baroque music to the works of 20th century Lithuanian composers.
The literary programme will include discussions with Marek Tamm, a cultural historian from Estonia, the Lithuanian poet Gytis Norvilas, curators of the Thomas Mann Cultural Centre – historians Dr Ruth Leiserowitz, Dr Nijolė Strakauskaitė, Dr Irena Vaišvilaitė, Assoc. Prof. Dr Aurimas Švedas, poet and translator Antanas Gailius, writer and essayist Dr Laurynas Katkus.
The winners of the essay competition organised by the festival will also join the event. As well as the conversations on current affairs and book launches, the literary programme will include coffee mornings with readings from the works of Thomas Mann which are becoming a beautiful tradition of the festival.
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