Festival

On 25–27 June 2026, the twenty-sixth Kilkim Žaibu took place beside Lake Lėnas, on the grounds of the President Antanas Smetona Manor Museum in the Ukmergė district. Musical highlights included Carcass, the “Blood Fire Death” programme dedicated to Bathory’s legacy, folk metal pioneers Skyclad and Messa. Once again, the festival became a three-day journey into its distinctive world of heavy music, living history and community.

The event’s budget reached a new record, and there was no shortage of technical and travel difficulties behind the scenes. Wet ground forced us to relocate the Perkūnas stage at the start of the event. Yet this unexpected decision worked well: audiences and performers praised the sound, lighting and screen visuals on both main stages. The Folk stage also became increasingly important, with late-night dancing showing the audience’s growing interest in this part of the festival.

Attendance was similar to the previous year, but more visitors chose to stay longer, and there were more camper vans and cars. More than one hundred and twenty organisers and volunteers, around thirty drivers and many other teams helped create the celebration. Support from Ukmergė and the museum, the work of living history participants, the audience’s creativity and a warm atmosphere helped us overcome the difficulties. In our eyes, this was one of the strongest editions of Kilkim Žaibu, reaffirming that the festival’s greatest asset is its people.