BNS

For the first time, over 10,000 people took part in the parade held during the cold beet soup festival “Vilnius Pink Soup Fest” in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, the city municipality reports.

According to the agency, led by the festival mascot “Šaltibarštukas” and accompanied by a marching band, the crowd marched on Saturday from Lukiškės Square to Tymas Market.

“This year, we probably set a record for scale – more than 10,000 people took part in the first-ever cold beet soup parade. No other city in the world has such a pink celebration: a festival full of surprises every year, it has become the most anticipated and joyful event not only for Lithuanians but also for guests from abroad who again arrived from many different countries,” said Dovilė Aleksandravičienė, head of “Go Vilnius,” in the announcement.

She noted that last year’s festival set two records when 1,200 guests sat at the longest cold beet soup table, measuring 362 meters.

The festival began Saturday morning at Tymas Market, where visitors could taste cold beet soup, admire art installations, and try out a slide from the Missionary Hill.

In Kūdrų Park, the exhibition “Cold Beet Soup Quilts” showcased a collection of more than 70 textile artworks created over half a year by artists from Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Palanga, Panevėžys, Mažeikiai, Biržai, Kaišiadorys, Širvintos, Utena, Ukmergė, and Boston.

To mark the occasion, the Vilnius TV tower raised the cold beet soup flag.

The “Vilnius Pink Soup Fest” is being held for the third time in the capital. Lithuanians consider cold beet soup one of their traditional dishes.