Tuesday before Lent, 46 days before Easter
Spring
Driving out winter, More, Lasininis and Kanapinis, masks, costumed visitors, pancakes, waiting for spring
Uzgavenes is Lithuania's joyful winter-sending feast: the straw figure More is burned, Lasininis fights Kanapinis, masked visitors roam, sun-like pancakes are fried, and winter is loudly chased from the yard.
What Is Uzgavenes and When Is It Celebrated?
Uzgavenes is a feast of waiting for spring and sending off winter. It is celebrated on the Tuesday before Lent, seven weeks before Easter, so the date changes every year. VLE notes that Lithuanians once called Uzgavenes the feast of Ragutis (ragučio šventė) and celebrated it at the spring equinox; after Christianization the timing was adjusted to the church calendar and falls between February 3 and March 9.
Uzgavenes is not a state holiday, but it is one of the most popular ethnocultural days. Its essence is loud, joyful driving out of winter and symbolic awakening of spring. It is the last rich day before the quieter Lenten period.
What Does More Mean and Why Is She Burned?
More is a straw doll, often dressed in women's clothing and carried or wheeled during the feast. She embodies winter, cold, evil, and the misfortunes of the past year.
The climax of Uzgavenes is burning More in the bonfire. This symbolizes the end of winter and the sending away of evil. Once More burns, the way opens for spring, light, and a new natural cycle.
Who Are Lasininis and Kanapinis?
Lasininis and Kanapinis are the two main Uzgavenes figures. Lasininis is fat, rich, and heavy, standing for winter and abundant food. Kanapinis is lean and stands for spring and the coming fast.
During the feast they stage a fight. Kanapinis traditionally wins, meaning spring defeats winter. The playful duel explains the meaning of Uzgavenes simply: the end of the old rich time and the beginning of a new cycle.
Why Are Masks Worn?
Masks and disguise are the clearest feature of Uzgavenes. Costumed visitors become goats, witches, Death, devils, bears, or Roma figures. Wooden masks, especially in Samogitia, were considered able to frighten away evil spirits and winter darkness.
Masked guests visit homes, joke, and ask for food. Hosts treated them with pancakes, doughnuts, and bacon, because receiving guests was tied to luck and good harvest. The custom is related to Christmas kaledojimas.
Why Are Pancakes Fried?
Pancakes are the central Uzgavenes food. Their round shape and golden color recall the sun, warmth, and returning light, making them both food and spring symbol.
People believed that the more pancakes were eaten on Uzgavenes, the richer and more fertile the coming year would be. Today pancakes are the simplest way to mark the feast at home, even without attending a large event.
Celebrating Uzgavenes Today
Uzgavenes can be celebrated at a large event or at home. Museums and city squares hold mask processions, Lasininis and Kanapinis fights, More burnings, fairs, and folklore programs. They are good places to see the living mask tradition.
At home, make pancakes, create a mask, sing, and drive out winter loudly with children. The key is the mood of the feast: humorous noise, movement, and the desire to hurry spring.
