page_title: Kaunas
section_title: Annual events
hierarchical_section_title: Kaunas / Annual events
caption_attribution_description: English: Opera at the Kaunas Castle.
context_page_description: Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915.
  During the interwar period, it served as the temporary capital of Lithuania, when Vilnius was seized by Poland between 1920 and 1939. During that period Kaunas was celebrated for its rich cultural and academic life, fashion, construction of countless Art Deco and Lithuanian National Romanticism architectural-style buildings as well as popular furniture, the interior design of the time, and a widespread café culture. The city interwar architecture is regarded as among the finest examples of European Art Deco and has received the European Heritage Label. It contributed to Kaunas being named as the first city in Central and Eastern Europe to be designated as a UNESCO City of Design. Kaunas has been selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2022, together with Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
context_section_description: Kaunas is best known for the Kaunas Jazz Festival, International Operetta Festival, Photo Art Festival "Kaunas photo" or Pažaislis music festival, which usually run from early June until late August each year. The open-air concerts of the historical 49-bell Carillon of Kaunas are held on weekends. Probably the longest established festival is the International Modern Dance Festival, which first ran in 1989.
  Kaziukas Fair Kaunas fork (beginning of March)
  International open-air "Kaunas Jazz Festival" (April–May)
  Day of Kaunas city (middle of May)
  Pažaislis music festival (June–August)
  Traditional folk music competition "Play, Jurgelis" (November)
  Christmas tree lighting (end of November)
caption: Opera at the Kaunas Castle
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