- Place
- Neringa Municipality
- Region
- Neringa
- Type
- 100-metre outdoor memorial with bronze handprints of Lithuanian popular-music performers and groups
- Address
- Pedestrian path beside Nida harbour, near Naglių g. 16, Nida, Neringa
- Coordinates
- 55.30246, 21.00848
- Visit duration
- 15-30 minutes for the handprints; 45-60 minutes with the harbour and lagoon waterfront
- Best time
- in dry daylight, ideally morning or evening when the route is quieter and side light defines the reliefs
Nida Star Avenue, Nida Glory Walk, Neringa Walk of Fame, Star Avenue in Klaipėda
Where the route is, and why the Klaipėda label is misleading
The Nida Walk of Fame follows roughly 100 metres of pedestrian path beside Nida harbour, where concerts for the Benai, plaukiam į Nidą! festival were once held. The coordinates 55.302455, 21.008478 mark one representative plaque near the middle of the route, not a gate, ticket office, or sole entrance. You can start from either end.
Nida is part of Neringa Municipality in Klaipėda County, but it is not in the city of Klaipėda. The search label Star Avenue in Klaipėda is therefore geographically inaccurate. Current official Lithuanian names are Žvaigždžių šlovės takas, meaning Walk of Fame, or simply Šlovės takas, not a separate landmark in central Klaipėda.
Older maps and descriptions may point to Taikos g. 2 in central Nida. That was the former route, dismantled during improvements to the town centre. Since 2023 the handprints have been beside the harbour, so the old point is not an alternative entrance to today's installation.
Bronze palms in the paving, not Hollywood stars
Warm bronze plaques punctuate the centre of a dark strip of rectangular paving stones. The technical brief for the renewed installation specified a 50 x 50 cm format. Each plaque carries a life-size palm and finger relief together with an artist's or group's name, and sits almost flush with the surrounding path.
Despite the informal Star Avenue nickname, there are no five-pointed Hollywood stars. The defining object is a cast of a musician's own hand and its connection with Lithuania's popular-music scene. A group plaque may preserve several members' hands, which is why one plaque, one named entry, and one individual handprint are not interchangeable counting units.
At unveiling ceremonies, the recesses are traditionally filled with sand and the honoured musician blows it away. On an ordinary visit, look for the relief and engraved name rather than expecting sand to remain. A low interpretation panel beside the path explains the installation's connection with the festival.
The festival, Benas, and the unresolved 1997 or 1998 question
The story begins in 1994 with the first Benai, plaukiam į Nidą! popular-music festival. Its title, roughly Benas, let's sail to Nida!, invokes the character played by Vytautas Kernagis in the film Maža išpažintis. The festival made that screen reference part of Nida's cultural identity before the present harbour route existed.
The founding year is inconsistent across the evidence. The bilingual interpretation panel now standing beside the route says it opened in 1997 and that Kernagis as Benas left the first handprint. Current pages from Neringa Municipality and the official visitor service date the first opening to 1998. None explains whether these refer to the idea, the first cast, and a formal opening, so 1997-1998 is the most honest date range.
The municipality's early chronology names Arūnas Valinskas, Česlovas Gabalis, Veronika Povilionienė, Rosita Čivilytė, Ovidijus Vyšniauskas, Stasys Povilaitis, and Vytautas Kernagis-Benas in the first group. Andrius Mamontovas and the band Studija followed in 1999, with Marijonas Mikutavičius added in 2004. These entries form the historic core of an installation whose membership has continued to change.
Why the old route disappeared and returned beside the harbour in 2023
For more than two decades the handprints were displayed in central Nida. The route was removed when this area was reconstructed and sustainable-mobility infrastructure was addressed. Existing plaques were restored, while five new handprints cast in 2019 remained in storage until a new public setting was ready.
The renewed Walk of Fame opened beside Nida harbour on 3 June 2023. Its 100-metre location was deliberately chosen close to the festival's former concert ground, returning the plaques to a place central to their own story. Neringa Municipality organised the revival with festival and route initiator Arūnas Valinskas and Lithuania's neighbouring-rights association AGATA.
At the reopening, the municipality reported 20 handprints. The display now included five made in 2019 for Nijolė Tallat-Kelpšaitė, Nijolė Ščiukaitė, Simonas Donskovas, Kostas Smoriginas, and Viktoras Malinauskas. Five further artists were honoured in 2023: Andrius Kulikauskas, Neda Malūnavičiūtė, Virgis Stakėnas, Žilvinas Žvagulis, and Monika Liu.
The 2024 and 2025 additions, and an inventory that keeps changing
Four new plaques were unveiled during the Nida'24 festival on 15 June 2024. They honour the band Hiperbolė, singer Kastytis Kerbedis, singer Inga Valinskienė, and composer and lyricist Gintaras Zdebskis. Because a band's plaque can contain several musicians' hands, this was four named entries but not necessarily four individual prints.
On 1 August 2025, Džordana Butkutė and the bands Rondo and Vairas joined the route. Adding the 20 entries reported at the 2023 reopening, four from 2024, and three from 2025 produces 27 solo or group entries in the documented chronology. That is an editorial sum of the sources, not an official fixed count of individual hands on the ground.
Older descriptions also named Gytis Paškevičius, yet he is absent from both the reconstructed 2023 inventory and the current official list. Public sources do not explain the change, so the old 11-name list should not be presented as today's inventory. The municipality, Arūnas Valinskas, and AGATA have agreed that the route should continue growing, making future changes part of the concept rather than an anomaly.
Free access, accessibility, and planning a short waterfront route
This is an outdoor memorial on a public pedestrian path, with no ticket desk or published museum hours. Official descriptions list no separate admission charge, so it is normally free to explore. Check current Neringa Municipality information before travelling, however, because a festival, plaque unveiling, harbour works, or maintenance may temporarily narrow the route.
Allow 15-30 minutes for the plaques alone, or 45-60 minutes with the harbour and lagoon waterfront. Dry mornings and evenings give clearer shadows in the bronze reliefs and fewer people on the path. Wet or icy metal can be more slippery than the paving, so watch your footing and avoid blocking the shared route while taking photographs.
Current official visitor information marks the attraction as accessible to disabled visitors, and photographs show a level paved route with flush-set plaques. This is not a full accessibility audit: temporary event barriers, crowds, wet surfaces, or construction can affect the real journey. Nida harbour, the Walk of Fame, the Kernagis sculpture, and the weathervane display make a practical cultural loop.
