People sing during the Song Day event during the 2018 Song Celebration in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, on July 6, 2018. Thousands of singers attended on Friday the final events of Lithuanian traditional song festival the Song Celebration which this year is dedicated to mark the centenary of restoration of the country's independence. (Xinhua/Alfredas Pliadis)
VILNIUS, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of singers attended on Friday the final events of Lithuanian traditional song festival the Song Celebration which this year is dedicated to mark the centenary of restoration of the country's independence.
Around 12,000 singers attend on Friday the Song Day event "May the Unity Blossom" in Lithuanian capital Vilnius. The Song Day is the culmination of the Song Celebration, six days of traditional songs and dances, which have gathered together around 36,000 participants and around ten times more visitors, according to organizers.
Tracing its history back to 1924, the Song Celebration is held every four years, and this year it happens to conclude on the same day with Lithuanian Statehood Day.
"This year July 6 crowns the centenary of our State restoration. The next celebration of that kind will come only after 100 years. We are very fortunate to witness and attend this very special anniversary," Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said in her address to the country on Friday morning.
On Friday evening, the culmination of the Song Day event and the entire Song Celebration is the National Chant, performed by singers and visitors and Lithuanian diaspora throughout the world at the same time, which is expected to unite around four million Lithuanians.
The Song Festival is included in the UNESCO world heritage list. The celebration is also protected by the law on the Song Celebrations of the Republic of Lithuania which states the necessity of maintaining this unique phenomenon having a great influence on the vitality of Lithuanian culture and preserving the unity of the nation.
