Lithuania’s capital city welcomed tens of thousands of visitors over the weekend for an extraordinary celebration dedicated to the nation’s beloved cold beet soup, transforming the entire city into a vibrant pink spectacle.
The three-day Vilnius Pink Soup Fest showcased šaltibarščiai, Lithuania’s traditional cold beet soup, with a massive coordinated “Pink Break” lunch where visitors from around the world gathered at extended tables to share the iconic dish. Event planners projected that attendees would consume over three metric tons (6,614 lbs) of kefir, a fermented milk product essential to the soup, throughout the celebration, with more than 100,000 people expected to participate.
This cooling soup serves as a summer staple for Lithuanians during the Baltic nation’s brief warm season. The traditional recipe combines beets and kefir with boiled potatoes, eggs, cucumbers and dill.
International visitors flocked to the unique celebration, including tourist Connor Holmes from the United Kingdom, who discovered the event online and believed “it was completely ridiculous in the best possible way.”
“Before I knew it, I was building a suit of pink knight armor, carrying a spoon instead of a sword, and decorating my shield with eggs, dill and potatoes,” he said. “At that point, coming to Vilnius and seeing all this craziness myself felt like the next logical step.”
The capital became an enormous pink entertainment zone as both visitors and residents donned pink attire. Additional participants celebrated wearing cucumber, egg and beet costumes while the city organized processions both on streets and along the Neris River.
Jolanta Žukienė, a teacher from Vilnius, attended the festival for the fourth consecutive year, bringing her three children and husband on Saturday.
“I can see how the number of attractions and visitors from abroad is growing, and Vilnius is becoming a real magnet for everyone who loves good food and unique experiences,” she said.
This celebration represents part of the city’s strategy to boost tourism to the Baltic nation.
“Looking at the crowds on the banks and the decorated boats, we joked that cold beet soup already dominates both land and water,” said Dovilė Aleksandravičienė, director of Go Vilnius, the city’s development agency. “Perhaps the air is next.”
