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Tiltagaliai becomes the small capital of culture 2021

Ten small capitals of culture for the year 2021 were elected at the Lithuanian Small Capitals of Culture project selection meeting held at the Ministry of Culture. This honourable and binding mission has been granted to the Tiltagaliai village in Panevėžys district.

“This is a great honour and a great obligation for us,” says Renata Kopūstienė, director of the Tiltagaliai Culture Centre, who was recognized as the best cultural worker of the Panevėžys district in 2019.

The director indicated all the traditional cultural events organized in Tiltagaliai in the application submitted by the Tiltagaliai rural community for the competition of small capitals of culture.

The above-mentioned events were: the State Restoration Day concert “Sound Songs for the Homeland Lithuania”; the Country Festival on St. Anthon’s day; the regional alternative fashion festival “Crazy Autumn”; the Winter holiday festival; the cycle of events “Everyday life, values, time”; and creative workshops for children, youth, and adults.

Traditional events are planned to be organized next year as well, but more widely and more impressively, depending on the funding for the prepared projects from the sources of funding for the small capitals of culture.

“We believe that we will be able to invite more guests and performers to our traditional events, integrate professional artists, and expand the variety of genres,” says the director.

However, this is not the limit of traditional events and celebrations.

“We will have great challenges. Together with cultural workers, art groups, the community, and other institutions, we will try to enrich cultural life with innovations. We already have original ideas, only they have not been specified yet, they are still at the level of creative reflection,” says the director about future plans.

R. Kopūstienė hopes that her dream will come true this autumn and a film will be made about Tiltagaliai, the history of the village, famous people, traditions of the past and present, and the expectations and joys of the locals. The director has already collected the material for the film; it awaits finalization, directing, and submitting of the script to the cameraman.

“Having become a small capital of culture, we will have the opportunity to present the film about Tiltagaliai not only in our own country but also to a wider audience. We will show the whole of Lithuania what we are rich in, what we can be proud and happy about,” says R. Kopūstienė.

Coincidentally, that next year marks the 435^th anniversary of the first mention of Tiltagaliai in historical sources. This well-deserved name of the small capital of culture will give even greater meaning to this beautiful anniversary.

The Lithuanian Small Capitals of Culture competition is initiated by the Lithuanian Union of Rural Communities. Project partners are the Ministry of Culture, the Lithuanian Association of Municipalities, and the Lithuanian Association of Elders. 

The Ministry of Culture supports and sustains the initiative of small Lithuanian capitals of culture. From 2018, the Lithuanian Culture Council annually allocates €50 thousand for their most important projects. Many small capitals are creating memorable cultural events for the local community through the efforts of local enthusiasts, cultural workers, and volunteers. The availability and dissemination of professional art is growing, and new cultural tourism initiatives are emerging. 

Tiltagaliai is not the first place in the Panevėžys district which was named as the small capital of Lithuania. In 2016, the town of Miežiškės had this title.

The city of the Panevėžys district – Ramygala – was declared the “Capital of Culture 2010”.