Does Lithuania celebrate Halloween? Halloween and Vėlinės in Vilnius

Yes, but as a night out rather than a tradition. Halloween is not a Lithuanian holiday and 31 October is an ordinary day, but since the end of the 20th century bars and clubs have used its imagery, and on 20 October 2026 Bonder listed 26 Halloween events in Vilnius. The days that matter more to Lithuanians come straight after: All Saints’ Day on 1 November and Vėlinės, the day of remembering the dead, on 2 November. Both are public holidays, when families visit graves and light candles.

Is Halloween a Lithuanian tradition?

No. The Universal Lithuanian Encyclopaedia (VLE) describes Halloween as a holiday of Anglo Saxon countries that marks the symbolic disappearance of the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead, celebrated on 31 October and traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain. It adds that from the end of the 20th century Halloween attributes began to be used in some public entertainment venues in Lithuania.

Not everyone welcomes it. In a 2024 letter, Lithuania’s Ethnic Culture Council, a state body, called Halloween an imported fashion whose events run counter to Lithuanian Vėlinės customs, and promoted a campaign of “kindness, memory and community” before Vėlinės instead. In practice, Halloween in Vilnius means costume parties, club nights, drag and cabaret shows and a Halloween park, mostly for adults, on the last weekend of October.

What is Vėlinės?

Vėlinės (All Souls’ Day) falls on 2 November. VLE notes that the oldest Lithuanian feast honouring the souls of the dead was Ilgės, held at the end of October and the start of November, and that people came to believe the souls (vėlės) gather at night in churches, in cemetery trees and on crosses. In the first half of the 20th century people began to burn candles around and on graves, and graves of relatives are visited from All Saints’ Day onwards.

• 1 November, All Saints’ Day (Visų Šventųjų diena): a public holiday under article 123 of the Labour Code.
• 2 November, the Day of Remembrance of the Dead (Mirusiųjų atminimo (Vėlinių) diena): a public holiday since 2020.
• 31 October, Halloween: not a public holiday, an ordinary working day when it falls on a weekday.

What will visitors see at Vilnius cemeteries?

On the evenings of 1 and 2 November Lithuanian cemeteries fill with people, and the graves with candles in glass lanterns. Two Vilnius cemeteries also carry national history:

• Rasos (Rasų kapinės), founded in 1801: signatories of the 16 February 1918 Act of Independence, including Jonas Basanavičius, are buried here, as is the painter and composer M. K. Čiurlionis. A crypt built in 1936 holds the heart of Józef Piłsudski in a silver urn together with the remains of his mother.
• Antakalnis (Antakalnio kapinės): the defenders of Lithuanian freedom killed in 1991 are buried here, with a memorial built in 1995 around a Pietà by the sculptor Stanislovas Kuzma. In 2003 the remains of Napoleon’s soldiers who died in 1812, found in the Šiaurės miestelis district, were reburied here. Actor Donatas Banionis and singer Vytautas Kernagis also lie here.

How should visitors behave on Vėlinės?

• Keep Halloween and Vėlinės apart. Costumes belong at the parties on 30 and 31 October, not at a cemetery on 1 or 2 November.
• Walk on the paths, speak quietly and do not step on graves or move candles. If you want to light one, you can place it at a memorial rather than on a family grave.
• Photograph the candlelit view, not mourners at a grave, and ask before photographing people.
• Expect traffic. Many people travel to family graves across Lithuania, so roads and the area around large cemeteries are busy. In past years Vilnius restricted parking near cemeteries and added extra buses; check the city’s public transport announcements before going.

Is Halloween a day off in Lithuania?

No. In 2026, 31 October is a Saturday, 1 November a Sunday and 2 November a Monday, so for people on a Monday to Friday week the holiday weekend runs from Saturday to Monday. The Labour Code shortens the working day by one hour on the eve of a public holiday (article 112), but the eve of 1 November is Saturday 31 October, so Friday 30 October is a normal working day for most people.

Where can you celebrate Halloween in Vilnius?

Most Halloween events in Vilnius are on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October: techno and club nights, drag and cabaret shows, live rock, 2000s and pop parties, bachata socials and an all night horror film marathon. Kalnų parkas also hosts a Halloween park with a scare tunnel until 8 November. The parties are grouped by night in our parties guide, and the Bonder Halloween page lists every current event.

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