A Christmas tree has arrived at the Klaipėda Theater Square

This time, Loreta and Arūnas Bentai donated a silver Christmas tree of great beauty to the city.

The owners planted an almost 12-meter high, properly matured spruce on the plot in 2000.

The idea to decorate not a frame, but a real fir for the “Klaipėda holidays” community came eight years ago. Every year, a large group of Klaipėda residents respond, wanting to give their city a tree for Christmas.

Last year, the Klaipėda University Botanic Garden donated the fir tree.

This year, natural firs are decorated in Panevėžys, Kretinga and Plungė.

In Klaipėda, the city’s main Christmas tree will be lit on December 2, to the sound of bells.

Photo by A.Pelakauskas/The journey of the Christmas tree to the Theater Square

This year, skating lovers will be lured to the Theater Square again. Ice is already poured on the square. As Eglė Šulskė, the manager of “Klaipėda švųntci”, said, in 2019, the former ice rink caused admiration among the townspeople. So there were always questions about when the arena would be poured again.

The tree will be decorated with a star

Klaipėda, which does not take part in the competition for the most beautiful Christmas trees, but always gladly accepts abundant compliments, remains faithful to the classics and only decorates the branches of the tree with garlands. True, this time a delicate star will shine at the top of the tree.

“Every year, Christmas awakens more compassion, sincerity, and the desire to give gifts in our hearts. As a symbol of all festive kindness, we will decorate the top of the tree with a delicate and elegant star of kindness. We really wish that every time you look up at the top of the tree, you remember the true meaning of Christmas and don’t forget to create small miracles in your daily work”, – Živilė Putnienė, project manager of “Klaipėdas śvatės” VšĮ.

The height of the twinkling star at the top of the fir tree is 120 cm, it is made of 10 mm clear plexiglass inlaid with white plexiglass with internal LED lighting.

In the context of Lithuanian cities, Klaipėda stands out not only for its traditionally living Christmas tree and its classic decoration, but also for the price of all the works related to the appearance of the Christmas tree, which this time amounts to slightly more than 1000 euros – the same as the cost of the new top of the Christmas tree.

Photo by Domo Rimeikas/Christmas events are starting in Klaipėda

Klaipėda Christmas classic

During the festive season, the long-awaited symbol of classic Christmas returns to the heart of Klaipėda, Theater Square – an open ice rink, which will be open from the evening of lighting the Christmas tree – from December 2 to January 7. The skating rink, replicating the shape of the Theater Square, will be unique in Lithuania – round and will occupy almost 500 square meters.

Even before the festive December, the ice rink project became a real symbol of the community and business community. The preparatory work of the ice rink started in the middle of November – the first and very important element of the rink – the ice base – was prepared by the company UAB “YIT Lietuva”. Due to the extremely steep slope of the Theater Square, about 150 cubic meters of asphalt chips were used to form the ice base. At the lowest point of the Theater Square, a base of only 8 cm was laid, and in order to prepare the base ideally, suitable for ice equipment, the asphalt poured at the edges of the Theater Square reached a thickness of even 48 cm.

Ice is “grown” by the company “Shaltoji Banga” – for this, special ice mats were laid out, on which the refrigerant – glycol – walks, and water is poured and cooled on the mat. The most complicated stage is growing ice, when water is poured every hour and ice is grown 1 mm at a time. The ice thickness of a suitable ice rink should be about 5 cm, and 1 mm of ice is produced in 1 hour.

According to the organizers, currently the conditions are extremely favorable for ice formation – although it can be done even at a temperature of +8 degrees, zero or negative temperatures make it easier to achieve the desired quality and thickness of ice. When the ice is already prepared, it can be used at a temperature of +12 degrees. The diameter of the Christmas ice rink is almost 25 meters or almost 500 square meters. About 40 people can skate here at one time.

Photo by A.Pelakauskas/The ice arena is poured in the theater square

“The Klaipėda ice rink is really unique in its shape – a round project is much more complicated than a simple square or rectangle. Of course, such a slide is very aesthetic and festive. 6 people are working on the Theater Square project – some are pouring ice, others are erecting curbs, and others are servicing the refrigeration generator, which has extremely strict requirements. We were looking for a maximally quiet, least noisy generator, and compared to the one four years ago, the latter is 40% quieter,” says Vladislovas Laurinavičius, director of Šaltoji banga UAB.

Tea – in melting cups

In the center of the ice rink, during the festive period, a forest of Christmas trees will be located, a stage where DJs creating a festive mood will appear, and hot tea will be served here, which will be poured into cupffee donated by UAB “KRATC” – edible cups that are made only from natural ingredients and protect the environment. A hot drink can be kept in such a cup for up to 40 minutes. Such cups will also be used by the vendors of the fair during the lighting evening.

Klaipėda’s ice rink will also become magical due to the dense starry sky – over the ice skaters’ heads, about 3,000 lights hung every 50 cm, which were patiently installed by the team of UAB Klaipėdos paslaugos, will light up. The cozy Christmas tree forest was donated by UAB “Megaplantas”, the benevolent help was provided by AB “Klaipėdos vanduo”.

Photo by A.Pelakauskas/Klaipėda fir’s trip to the Theater Square

The rink will be served by two huts on the square. In one it will be possible to rent and in the other to change skates. And the ice rink will be maintained by a team of 12 people throughout the month. The skating rink will be open to Klaipėda residents and city guests every day, and on weekend evenings, skating lessons and themed parties will be held here. The first disco on skates, with the sound of Christmas songs, will be held on December 2, immediately after the lighting of the tree.

Those who have their own skates will be able to use the rink for a symbolic fee of EUR 2, those who don’t will be able to rent skates at the nearby rental point for EUR 2. Opening hours of the open ice rink: I-III – 10-21 hours, IV-VII – 10-22 hours. Open skating lessons for those who want to get used to the ice with the coaches of the Klaipėda Ice Hockey School “Klaipėdos Baltija” will be held on December 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28. 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The duration of the lesson is 45 minutes.

Irmantos Gelūnos/BNS photo/White crows

Christmas tree lighting with a sea of ​​bells

Klaipėda will start December 2, the festive month, with a cozy evening filled with sincerity, at the epicenter of which are the sounds of waiting for Christmas, giving meaning to the entire Advent period. From the tearing of the leaf of the November calendar, the sounds of unwrapping gifts, to the majestic ringing of Christmas bells, such sounds will accompany everyone who does not fear the cold and comes to the square.

The group “Baltos varnos”, Rokas Kašėta, Linas Švirinas, Jausmė, Evelina Šimelionė and Santa Claus, who will visit Klaipėda a little earlier, will decorate the magical lighting celebration with their musical gifts. On the festive evening, even two musical premieres will await those gathered – the premiere work “Winter Song” by one of the most popular artists of the young generation – Roko Yan and the work “Christmas Love Song” created especially for this occasion by the artist Jausma.

Photo by V. Černiauskas/”X Factor” participant Jausmė Elena Stonkutė

“This year, we especially invite you to hear Christmas. What sounds remind us of them? Firewood crackling in the fireplace, maybe crunching snow, or maybe sighing after drinking warm cocoa? In the hustle and bustle of people and the city, those small sounds disappear, so we want to remind everyone of the ringing of bells, sounds of instruments and beautiful Lithuanian songs”, says Evelina Šimelionė, the director of the event.

Ringing bells is one of the most beautiful sounds of waiting for Christmas. The organizers of the event invite everyone, big and small, who come to the Theater Square on December 2, to take their personal bells with them, thanks to which the Klaipėda Christmas tree will light up in a real sea of ​​ringing bells.