On 30 April, a traditional song festival, “Songs from Exile,” was held at the Varėna Cultural Centre for the tenth time.
This year, the Song Festival “Songs from Exile” was held in Varėna on 30 April. The festival is dedicated to the memory of the deportations of the Lithuanian population; the resistance fights for the freedom of Lithuania, the resistance to the Soviet occupation, and the hope of returning to the homeland from exile and the camps. The event is held for Lithuanian school communities, and the students who come to the event sing not only old songs with a long history but also the same songs with modern arrangements and a new touch. On 30 April 2025, the event was attended by representatives of 22 Lithuanian schools and an ensemble of former political prisoners and exiles from the Varėna Branch of the Lithuanian Association of Political Prisoners and Exiles.
The Song Festival “Songs from Exile” was initiated by the Secretariat of the International Commission in 2014. The first event took place in Vilnius Viršuliškės School, and later the festival moved to the Dzūkija region – Varėna, where it is organised together with the Tolerance Education Centre of Varėna Ąžuolo Gymnasium.
