Remembering the "Spring Festival"...

Our Alma Mater – Vytautas Magnus University – hosted the largest event organized by the VMU Student Representative Council a few weeks ago – the “Spring Festival”. The entire university was buzzing for two days. Everyone could find something to do: some attended lectures by famous people, others participated in creative workshops, and still others went to social events. People also had the opportunity to learn how to dance salsa, play basketball or quidditch, visit the chill zone, or listen to a good concert at Unity Square. That is why we had the idea to interview the main organizer of the VMU “Spring Festival” and the Vice President of the Vytautas Magnus Student Representative Council, Lina Paulauskaitė. It was interesting to learn about the history of the “Spring Festival”, organizational matters, and future plans.

As far as I know, the VMU "Spring Festival" has been organized for 13 years. Can you tell us how the idea for the festival came about? What was it like at the beginning?

Yes, this year's "Spring Festival 2014" was the thirteenth festival organized by our representation. Its idea was born in 2001. by the then president of the Student Representation of Vytautas Magnus University Tadis Martusevičius and his team. The festival was born from several events of the Student Representation, which took place in April-May, but, to my knowledge, the spark that led to the birth of the festival was a unique organized event "Metal Palace is Leaving", which took place in early May, commemorating the birthday of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. During it, a column of old "Zaporozhians" and "Lads" would move from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics, otherwise known as Vileika, towards the central building of VMU, symbolizing the merger of the faculties located in the most distant VMU and the city center. When VMU students met at Unity Square, they would start a real fiesta – it symbolized the unity of our student body.

Has the festival changed significantly over the past thirteen years?

The festival has indeed changed a lot. First of all, it has expanded from a single event to a marathon of 2-3 days of endless events. Their nature and network have also changed significantly. The festival has become socially responsible, because more than a third of the current festival’s activities are various socially responsible campaigns, such as blood donations, tolerance promotion events, and the like. Also, over the past two years, the network of activities has been supplemented by sports events, such as the street basketball tournament “PF 3×3” or the only “Quidditch” competition in Lithuania. However, no matter how many new events and changes appear, our festival retains the name of the most student, academic, and spring festival in Kaunas and unites not only the students of our university, but also the entire Kaunas city community, and this goal has not changed over the past thirteen years.

You have personally contributed to the organization of four "Spring Festivals". For the past two years, you have been the main organizer and coordinator. Do you remember your first encounter with the festival, what impressions it left on you then? And how did the festival change when you started coordinating it?

I came across the "Spring Festival" in the spring of 2011, when I was a freshman at the Student Representative Office and joined the organizing group. That year, I did minor but important work, for example, helping prepare spaces for events, meeting performers, and so on. That year, everything was very interesting to me, I wanted to gain as much experience as possible, see and get to know as many people as possible. Especially since for the first time I was able to see the "G&G Syndicate" or other faces that I had previously only seen on television from so close up. It was an event that involved me in the activities of the representative office.

Due to favorable circumstances, I was the main organizer of the last two festivals. During these two years, it has changed a lot and, in my opinion, has formed its own face. My first priority was that social actions would no longer be something sad, boring, uninteresting, as it was before. My team members were tasked with organizing new promotions and events that would different, invisible but relevant and important. And it was done. Over the past two years, we have seen that such events are interesting for young people and they have received an unexpectedly large amount of attention and participants. Also, for the first time, sports events were included in the festival program, an open recreation area appeared, and I am perhaps most pleased that we were able to return the festival to its original location - Unity Square.

Haven't you gotten tired of the "Spring Festival" over the years?

I ask myself this every year, and there are days when I can't even think about it, organizing it, or coordinating it. But when it arrives, and a few months later, when I'm still filled with the smiles of the people I saw at the festival, the joy, when I can enjoy what we did, then I truly understand that the "Spring Festival" cannot be boring. It's different every year, it's young, and most importantly, it's what the students and I want.

What fascinates you about this event?

I am fascinated by its energy, spring weather, student enthusiasm, and the fact that everyone can find something interesting to do. It is fascinating because it is created by crazy young people aged 18-22, full of new ideas and striving to implement them.

What is the main purpose of the "Spring Festival"? Maybe it carries some kind of message, what is it?

Our main goal is to unite Vytautas Magnus University students and the Kaunas city community and spread the word and discuss socially responsible topics. Every year the festival has a main theme, which is analyzed during lectures, discussions and social events. For example, last year the festival theme was “Youth Civic Responsibility”, and this year the discussion was: “Why shouldn’t young people emigrate?”

This "Spring Festival" was particularly rich in sporting events, did you decide to get young people to move more?

We have indeed received a number of suggestions and observations from students that our festival has everything but sports. Therefore, last year we offered students a basketball tournament, which received a lot of attention and positive feedback. As a result, it was decided to expand the network of sports events. We have planned several new events for next year's festival.

How did such unconventional events as the Quidditch tournament come into your program?

In fact, this idea was born to several members of the organizing team who are die-hard fans of the Harry Potter books and films. During one of the meetings, they proposed this idea that we could organize the first tournament of this game in Lithuania. I must admit, I was very skeptical about this issue, but they managed to convince me that it would work. And it did. I am proud of them and the event itself. I think it will become one of the most anticipated events of the entire festival.

The largest number of people usually gather for the closing concert at Unity Square. Is this the main event of the festival?

This is not our most important event, but it is the largest and receives the most public attention. People are always happy to enjoy a great concert of famous Lithuanian bands in the fresh air, and we are happy to provide such an opportunity. However, as I already mentioned, this is not our main event, because we focus mainly on social actions, sports events, and lectures.

What else can the festival surprise you with in the future?

We are already creating guidelines for next year's festival, sharing ideas. I can guarantee that next year it will be even bigger, louder, brighter, with even more diverse events and famous names.

Erika Gudliauskaitė