Cold, dark or raining? A show under a roof is the easy win. This list gathers the indoor events coming up for kids and families, from puppet theater and family plays to musicals, ballet, science shows and museum nights. It updates itself as new dates come in, soonest first, so check it before the weekend.
Upside Down Once Again (Kitą kartą aukštyn kojom) is a live-music family concert by Keistuolių teatras, played in the company's own theater.
It is performed in Lithuanian, but a concert works without following every word, so it suits kids who simply like music and can sit through a show.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's book as a Lithuanian musical, written and directed by composer Jonas Sakalauskas. A live orchestra and choir play the score while aerial acrobats, projections and lighting fill the arena stage.
It is performed in Lithuanian, so kids who know the story will follow it best. Younger kids get the colorful sets and projections; older kids and adults get the story.
A well-known fairy tale told with puppets and objects: a witch stepmother turns her stepsons into birds, and their sister takes a long, hard road to save them. The staging mixes puppetry with clowning and street-theater techniques.
The creators frame it around hard questions, like living in a threatening world, alongside courage, patience and looking after family. It suits kids ready for a story with real danger in it.
Careful, Magic! is a new show from children's illusionist Alan Gladkov. When the lights go down, the tricks begin: objects appear out of nowhere, with plenty of laughs and surprises along the way.
It plays to kids and adults at once. Some kids will believe every trick, and some parents will try to work out how it's done.
Dansema is Lithuania's only theater company making dance shows exclusively for children, and Unseen World is built around how babies take in the world, detail by detail. Dancers in textured costumes move through a set of pom-pom strands, soft striped rolls and bold black, white and red patterns. Babies are free to watch or crawl in and join the dancers whenever they choose.
Mrs. Majer worries about everything: the weather, accidents, whatever might go wrong. Her husband calmly drinks his tea. Then a tiny bird turns up in their garden, and raising it slowly loosens her grip on her fears.
Lėlė's new show, with puppets and three actors, adapts the picture book by German author Wolf Erlbruch, published in English as Mrs. Meyer the Bird. A gentle story about letting go of fear.
An interactive take on Snow White in which the audience becomes part of the cast. Kids are called up from their seats to play dwarfs and forest friends and help rescue Snow White. The story is told gently and with plenty of humor, so it never turns frightening, and the show is packed with songs, games and movement. Two actors, V. Straigytė and R. Jatužytė, lead it.
Uncle Bubbles (Burbulų Dėdė) runs a stage science show built on experiments with air, water, fire and earth. Kids see smoke bubbles and air cannons, a bubble disco and cola fountains, a burning foam mountain and a flaming hat, then erupting volcanoes and a snow lab.
It suits kids who like loud, messy spectacle more than a story. A child who startles at fire or bangs may not enjoy it.
A one-act Christmas play based on a book by the German children's author Otfried Preussler. Raganiukė, the little witch, sets off with her friend Besmegenis on a winter adventure of snow, magic and surprises, and the play finally tells where she came from.
After the show, Santa Claus hands out gifts to the children. It suits kids who like gentle, festive fairy tales.
Dinozauro Kalėdos is a new Christmas musical with actors, costumes and light effects. Twins Milda and Matilda go looking for a Christmas miracle and find a baby dinosaur instead. Their trip takes them through festive Vilnius, the starry sky and far-off galaxies, past a mysterious alien and a transgalactic restaurant.
Expect Christmas songs and a story about friendship. It is in Lithuanian, for kids who follow the language.
The Ukrainian Classical Ballet brings Tchaikovsky's Christmas ballet to Vilnius for the first time. Marie gets a wooden toy soldier from her uncle Drosselmeyer, and at night he comes alive, fights an army of mice and travels with her to a land of sweets.
One of the world's most performed ballets, it suits kids who can sit through two acts. Reading the story beforehand helps younger ones follow along.
The Vilnius Book Fair is the city's yearly book fair, held indoors at LITEXPO, the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre. Families walk the exhibitors' stands and browse.
It is a come-and-go visit, so you can stay for an hour or a whole afternoon. It suits kids who already enjoy browsing a bookshop more than toddlers who need to run.
Cold, dark or raining? A show under a roof is the easy win. This list gathers the indoor events coming up for kids and families, from puppet theater and family plays to musicals, ballet, science shows and museum nights. It updates itself as new dates come in, soonest first, so check it before the weekend.
Upside Down Once Again (Kitą kartą aukštyn kojom) is a live-music family concert by Keistuolių teatras, played in the company's own theater.
It is performed in Lithuanian, but a concert works without following every word, so it suits kids who simply like music and can sit through a show.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's book as a Lithuanian musical, written and directed by composer Jonas Sakalauskas. A live orchestra and choir play the score while aerial acrobats, projections and lighting fill the arena stage.
It is performed in Lithuanian, so kids who know the story will follow it best. Younger kids get the colorful sets and projections; older kids and adults get the story.
A well-known fairy tale told with puppets and objects: a witch stepmother turns her stepsons into birds, and their sister takes a long, hard road to save them. The staging mixes puppetry with clowning and street-theater techniques.
The creators frame it around hard questions, like living in a threatening world, alongside courage, patience and looking after family. It suits kids ready for a story with real danger in it.
Careful, Magic! is a new show from children's illusionist Alan Gladkov. When the lights go down, the tricks begin: objects appear out of nowhere, with plenty of laughs and surprises along the way.
It plays to kids and adults at once. Some kids will believe every trick, and some parents will try to work out how it's done.
Dansema is Lithuania's only theater company making dance shows exclusively for children, and Unseen World is built around how babies take in the world, detail by detail. Dancers in textured costumes move through a set of pom-pom strands, soft striped rolls and bold black, white and red patterns. Babies are free to watch or crawl in and join the dancers whenever they choose.
Mrs. Majer worries about everything: the weather, accidents, whatever might go wrong. Her husband calmly drinks his tea. Then a tiny bird turns up in their garden, and raising it slowly loosens her grip on her fears.
Lėlė's new show, with puppets and three actors, adapts the picture book by German author Wolf Erlbruch, published in English as Mrs. Meyer the Bird. A gentle story about letting go of fear.
An interactive take on Snow White in which the audience becomes part of the cast. Kids are called up from their seats to play dwarfs and forest friends and help rescue Snow White. The story is told gently and with plenty of humor, so it never turns frightening, and the show is packed with songs, games and movement. Two actors, V. Straigytė and R. Jatužytė, lead it.
Uncle Bubbles (Burbulų Dėdė) runs a stage science show built on experiments with air, water, fire and earth. Kids see smoke bubbles and air cannons, a bubble disco and cola fountains, a burning foam mountain and a flaming hat, then erupting volcanoes and a snow lab.
It suits kids who like loud, messy spectacle more than a story. A child who startles at fire or bangs may not enjoy it.
A one-act Christmas play based on a book by the German children's author Otfried Preussler. Raganiukė, the little witch, sets off with her friend Besmegenis on a winter adventure of snow, magic and surprises, and the play finally tells where she came from.
After the show, Santa Claus hands out gifts to the children. It suits kids who like gentle, festive fairy tales.
Dinozauro Kalėdos is a new Christmas musical with actors, costumes and light effects. Twins Milda and Matilda go looking for a Christmas miracle and find a baby dinosaur instead. Their trip takes them through festive Vilnius, the starry sky and far-off galaxies, past a mysterious alien and a transgalactic restaurant.
Expect Christmas songs and a story about friendship. It is in Lithuanian, for kids who follow the language.
The Ukrainian Classical Ballet brings Tchaikovsky's Christmas ballet to Vilnius for the first time. Marie gets a wooden toy soldier from her uncle Drosselmeyer, and at night he comes alive, fights an army of mice and travels with her to a land of sweets.
One of the world's most performed ballets, it suits kids who can sit through two acts. Reading the story beforehand helps younger ones follow along.
The Vilnius Book Fair is the city's yearly book fair, held indoors at LITEXPO, the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre. Families walk the exhibitors' stands and browse.
It is a come-and-go visit, so you can stay for an hour or a whole afternoon. It suits kids who already enjoy browsing a bookshop more than toddlers who need to run.
