“Starry Christmas” in Šilutė: beloved performers and the largest ice rink in Western Lithuania

Very soon, on December 5th, Šilutė will be flooded with Christmas lights – the magical festive season of waiting will begin! On the first Friday of December, the people of Šilutė and guests of the town are invited to the Christmas tree lighting celebration, and later on the same day – to the grand opening of the Šilutė ice rink.

The new Šilutė Ice Arena – the largest in Western Lithuania

First, the silver spruce growing in the centre of Šilutė, next to the recently renovated Cultural Centre, will be lit. The Christmas tree lighting celebration will begin on December 5th (Friday) at 17:30. Environmentally conscious residents of Šilutė are delighted that in recent years the spruce, which has been growing here for almost 40 years, has grown even taller and more beautiful. Once decorated, it will be visible from even further away and will soon be able to compete in its graceful appearance with its “relatives” in other cities of the country.
The people of Šilutė started the tradition of decorating a growing spruce two years ago and are proud that Šilutė is one of the few cities in the country that decorates a living Christmas tree and thus saves one tree’s life every year.
A joint theatrical programme by the Šilutė Chamber Drama Theatre and the Šilutė Cultural Centre will be traditionally presented to spectators gathered by the Christmas tree.

Everyone will fit into the ice rink

Immediately after the Christmas tree lighting event, participants will be greeted by the most joyful winter holiday news – the opening of the largest ice rink in all of Western Lithuania! This year its area reaches as much as 940 m² (last year – 600 m²). The spacious ice rink will accommodate more people wishing to have fun during one skating session, therefore queues are expected to be avoided. The larger rink will also be more convenient for ice hockey players training here and for performances by other groups on the ice. Last year, the covered ice rink installed for the first time in the town of Šilutė became the most popular attraction in the coastal region, encouraging people to celebrate the holidays in a different way and making Šilutė famous throughout the country. During the entire festive season, various performers, sports and art groups gave performances at the covered rink, as well as skating lessons and discos were held. In less than three months, the ice rink installed in the town centre was visited by more than 20,000 visitors – an eloquent number, considering that Šilutė has about 17,000 inhabitants in total.
Encouraged by last year’s success and favourable feedback from residents, the municipal authorities again invite all coastal residents and guests of the municipality to celebrate the major year-end holidays in a wintry way – at the ice rink called “Šilutė Ice Arena” (“Šilutės ledo arena”), which is being completed in a location already familiar to skating enthusiasts – in the inner courtyard of the Hugo Šojus Manor in Šilutė (Lietuvininkų St. 4 (Lietuvininkų g. 4)). The object, which cost almost 150,000 euros, is a gift from the local self-government to coastal residents and an investment in healthy, meaningful community leisure.

“Starry Christmas!” – this year’s slogan of Christmas–New Year Šilutė

“We invite everyone to come to Šilutė and welcome a special – starry – Christmas here (“žvaigždėtas“ Kalėdas). Here, far from big cities, away from noise and bright lights, in the silence of nature the true beauty not only of the sky but also of life itself opens up. I wish you to raise your eyes to the starry sky more often, to feel a festive uplift, a Vydūnas-like harmonious relationship with the world, yourself and others, to enjoy pleasant togetherness and the cultural programme prepared for you this year, and perhaps even to dare to step onto skates if you have never done so before,” invites Šilutė District Municipality Mayor Vytautas Laurinaitis.
According to him, the decision to install this year a temporary ice rink larger than two basketball courts was made after evaluating last year’s experience. “It is an incredibly good feeling to see so many people in Šilutė wanting to spend their free time actively. We encourage and support the residents’ desire to live healthier, move more, communicate, so this year we invite everyone to the new, largest ice arena in the region!” says V. Laurinaitis.
By the way, Vilius Storosta–Vydūnas was mentioned by the mayor not by chance: a photograph has survived testifying to the old local traditions of having fun on the ice in Šilutė. It shows the well-known philosopher and writer Vydūnas, with skates, captured spending his leisure time on the ice of the Šyša River.
In the new ice rink, visitors will be able to spend their free time meaningfully without being afraid of unfriendly weather conditions – above this winter entertainment space an impressive 1,200 m² roof has been installed, which will protect skaters. For the convenience of those waiting, cozy waiting areas have been set up next to the rink this year, spaces for Christmas photo sessions, lighting created from 1,800 bulbs that gives the impression of a starry sky, and other innovations which are expected to pleasantly surprise especially young families.

Performers from all over Lithuania will be invited

“Ice and stars suit each other and suit the holidays, therefore during the festive period in Šilutė we will see not only corresponding decoration elements in public spaces but also many other ‘stars’ of various brightness,” says Šilutė Cultural Centre Director Jūratė Pancerova. She revealed that from the Christmas tree lighting on December 5th until the end of February, numerous events for children, young people and adults will take place in Šilutė. At the opening event of the rink, those gathered will be entertained by the well-known Vilnius DJ Tomas Boo and the Klaipėda figure skating club “Frost” (“Speigas”) (coach and head Edita Dvarionienė).
The aim is for spectators to have as many opportunities as possible to spend long and dark evenings not at home, but in decorated and illuminated public spaces of the town with their loved ones, friends or acquaintances, so the creation and coordination of the events programme is a continuous process. Among the planned events are concerts by various performers and bands, educational activities, performances by professional figure skaters, skating lessons with a coach, family afternoons with animators, an afternoon with Santa Claus, an evening of French music with Šilutė Theatre actors, Christmas and New Year ice discos and many other interesting cultural events.
In the town, the traditional Christmas Tree Alley competition will also take place, where town institutions compete to see who will decorate their tree more beautifully and elaborately.
One of this year’s festive novelties in Šilutė is the “Christmas Tree Advent Calendar” (“Eglučių Advento kalendorius”) installed next to the Hugo Šojus Museum. Every day from the beginning of Advent a Christmas tree will be decorated, and by Christmas an entire alley of them should appear in the Old Market Square on the Šyša River embankment.

Everyone, young and older, is invited to make friends with the ice

In order to ensure that everyone who wishes can visit the ice rink, it was decided to keep a friendly pricing policy (compared to last year, only the adult ticket has increased by one euro): the price of skating and skate rental on site – 5 euros for adults, 2 euros for children.
This year, the duration of one skating session will be 60 minutes. It is planned that the ice rink will be open to visitors every day. As before, tickets can be purchased at the entrance to the ice arena. On the opening day, a 50% discount will apply to tickets (session duration – 30 minutes).
Special offers are being prepared for socially vulnerable groups. Children living in less affluent families or educated in special education institutions will again be invited to free skating sessions this year. In January, pupils from the district’s schools are planned to be invited to the rink.
Next to the rink, Christmas huts tempting with delicious aromas will be installed, where hot drinks, sweets and snacks will be sold, so hungry fun-seekers or those enjoying this wintry spectacle will be able to have a snack or warm up right there.

The organiser of Christmas–New Year events is the Šilutė Cultural Centre. The events are funded by the Šilutė District Municipality.
Partners: Šilutė Tourism Information Centre, Šilutė Chamber Drama Theatre, Šilutė Hugo Šojus Museum.
The constantly updated calendar of events in Šilutė can be found at:
Šilutė District Municipality events calendar https://www.silute.lt/renginiu-kalendorius/5781,
Šilutė Cultural Centre website https://siluteskc.lt/renginiai/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/siluteskulturoscentras.

The photos show moments from the press conference held on Monday next to the new “Šilutė Ice Arena” (“Šilutės ledo arena”). The people of Šilutė, who have installed the largest covered ice rink in Western Lithuania, are investing in active and meaningful leisure time for local residents.
Photo author – Julius Macnoris.