From 15 to 22 June, Refugee Week, the largest festival in the Baltic region celebrating the contributions of refugees to culture and society, will take place across Lithuania. The initiative invites audiences to concerts, discussions, exhibitions, guided tours, creative workshops and community gatherings that bring to life the stories, creativity and everyday experiences of people who have sought safety away from home.
World Refugee Day is observed every year on 20 June, with events taking place in countries around the world in the week leading up to it. Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture initiative celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking asylum. In Lithuania, the festival is represented by the arts agency Artscape, which has worked in the field of migration for more than a decade, delivering inclusion programmes for thousands of refugees and asylum seekers.
“Today, more than 122 million people around the world have been forced to leave their homes because of war, violence or persecution – the highest number of forcibly displaced people ever recorded. These statistics may seem distant, but some of the people behind them are living right here alongside us. More than 60,000 people who have been forced to leave their homes currently live in Lithuania.
“They are people who have lost a great deal, but not their desire to create, work and be part of society. Refugee Week invites us to see not numbers, but people – their stories, talents and contributions to our communities. I believe the strength of a society is measured not by how we treat those who are similar to us, but by how we welcome those who most need safety, dignity and the opportunity to belong,” says Aistė Ulubey, founder and director of Artscape.
As of 2026, Lithuania is home to more than 53,000 Ukrainians who have fled the war, as well as people from Belarus, Afghanistan, Syria and other countries who have received or are seeking asylum. Ukrainians remain the largest refugee community Lithuania has welcomed in its history.
Refugee Week creates spaces for encounters, connection and dialogue between people from different cultures and backgrounds. At festival events, members of local communities and people who have made Lithuania their new home meet not as representatives of abstract issues or social groups, but as neighbours, colleagues, artists and people with shared interests. These encounters offer an opportunity to get to know one another and to discover how different experiences, languages and cultures enrich society as a whole.
This year, Refugee Week has brought together more than 20 cultural institutions, community organisations, NGOs and public-sector bodies, including the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Pranas Domšaitis Gallery, Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library, Jonava District Social Services Centre, Museum of Applied Arts and Design, Padėk pritapti, Lithuanian Red Cross, Sienos Grupė, Kino Pavasaris and the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania, among others.
Together, they have created a programme of more than 30 free events in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Palanga, Jonava and other cities. Audiences are invited to discussions, workshops, guided tours, film screenings, concerts and other events taking place in museums, libraries, community centres, cafés and parks.
The highlight of the week will be “Kultūrų ritmu” (In the Rhythm of Cultures), the main World Refugee Day programme taking place in Palanga on 19–20 June. At Kupeta 68, visitors can join discussions exploring how music creates a sense of belonging, the role of young people in building a more open society, and the relationship between art and activism. The programme will also feature a community lunch, creative workshops, broadcasts by community radio stations Radio Vilnius and Refuge Worldwide, and a live music programme culminating in performances by Gabrielė Vilkickytė, Silvana Imam and Abdullah Miniawy.
“Kultūrų ritmu” is organised by the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania and funded through the cooperation programme between the Swiss Confederation and the Republic of Lithuania.
All events are free of charge. The full programme is available on the official Refugee Week website: refugeeweek.lt.
The festival is partially funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.