News
The center of European cultural life will be transferred to Vilnius and Linz (14445)
Jan 1 2009 / Posted by Tomas Vyšniauskas
Article by Albertas Barauskas, www.vilnius2009.lt
On the morning of 1 January the city of Vilnius awoke having become the European Capital of Culture. This title which Lithuania was striving to achieve for more than five years while preparing for the country's Millennium celebration will belong to Vilnius and Linz (Austria) for the whole year of 2009. This title was transferred to these two cities from the last year's European Capitals of Culture Liverpool (Great Britain) and Stavanger (Norway).
"After becoming the European Capital of Culture 2009 Vilnius will present the program of cultural events and projects which will be organized and implemented throughout the whole year. This program is exclusively developed for the year of the capital of culture", said Elona Bajorinienė, the director of the public institution "Vilnius – Europos kultūros sostinė 2009" (Vilnius – European Capital of Culture 2009).
The perspective to implement the program "Vilnius – European Capital of Culture 2009" was projected in the Resolution of the Government of Lithuania in 2003. In 2004 Lithuania officially applied to the institutions of the European Union (EU) concerning the award of the status of the European Capital of Culture to Vilnius. In November 2005 under the Resolution of the Council of the EU Vilnius and Linz were announced European Capitals of Culture for the year 2009.
Vilnius is the farthest removed to the East EU city ever become the European Capital of Culture. From 1985 till 2009 this title has already been awarded to 37 European cities.
Whyvisitvilnius.com - A new website has just evolved (13408)
Dec 29 2008 / Posted by Tomas Vyšniauskas (Flaveris)
Finally, after long hours of work, after overcoming many obstacles and experiencing many "fortune smiles", I'm happy to announce opening of the WhyVisitVilnius.com website. As title tells itself, this website should answer one simple question - Why Visit Vilnius? Lots of people have heard something about Vilnius but many of them couldn't answer one simple question - why is it worth to visit this city? This website is designed to answer it.
You will find three main applications that can be reached from the very top of the page. The first is called "Quiz".
When you start it, you'll be shown the first reason that explains why it is worth to visit Vilnius. If you feel it is not enough, you can continue to the second reason, and so on. The main point of this application is to let you think about visiting Vilnius.
Another application is "Gallery".
Here you'll be able to see lots of beautiful Vilnius photos and evaluate the city with your own eyes.
There is also an application called "Events".
In the Events page you'll see the schedule of main events of the Vilnius - European Capital of Culture 2009 programme. You'll see a short description and date when a particular event is held.
These are the main parts of the website and I hope they will help you decide if it is worth visiting Vilnius.
I'm also saying a big thanks for these people who have helped me creating this website:
Laima Druknerytė
Jonas Šaučiūnas
Ilona Jonušauskienė
Mindaugas Danys
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. You can do so in the Contacts page.
www.whyvisitvilnius.com
