WASHTENAW COUNTY., MI – More than 100 Lithuanian-Americans traveled to Camp Pilenai, a privately owned campsite outside of Manchester, to celebrate a midsummer festival rooted in pagan tradition on Saturday, June 26.
Najiba Gaines-Hannah’s flower crown photographed during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021. She attended the festival with her boyfriend and his family. Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Members of the Lithuanian-American community traveled across the Midwest to gather at the camp. Gema Benokraitis, from Baltimore, was found helping other women and girls make flower crowns at a picnic bench overflowing with various floral materials.
“That’s a really nice one. Because it’s got character, right?” said Benokraitis, encouraging her most recent apprentice.
Gema Benokraitis, originally from Baltimore, helps Kristina Katilius to make a flower crown during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
According to tradition, this holiday always takes place on the shortest night of the year, symbolizing day’s victory over night. Most rituals and games played during Jonines celebrate new life and young love.
In Lithuania, young girls and women toss their flower crowns over their shoulders onto branches -- the number of attempts before they can successfully land their crowns is believed to be how many years until they will be married.
Jurate Canara, left, and her boyfriend, Renatas Strimaitis, dance together during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
A young girl’s necklace photographed during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021. The necklace includes her name written in two ways, one being Russian, the girl claims. Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
A group of attendants dance to the music of a live performer during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Although celebrations in Lithuania maintain many of their pagan elements, the festivities in Manchester were more modern in nature. Bounce houses and toys were set up for the children, a volleyball court for the teenagers and food and drink for the adults.
A shot of Krupnikas, a honey-based liqueur, photographed during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021. Krupnikas was handed out to adult attendants of the festival, covered by the registration fee.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Gema Benokraitis’s plate of food photographed during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021. Among the dishes on her plate is a popular Lithuanian food called Kugelis, top, a potato-based dish containing bacon and onion, and often eaten with sour cream. Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Children jump in a bounce house during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Aleksa Skiotys passes a volleyball in a game of Bulve- a game in which people who are “out” sit in the middle of a circle and must catch the ball to be back “in” - during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Divine Providence Lithuanian Catholic Church in Southfield is home to a Lithuanian school, basketball team, scout organization, folk dance group and more. When quarantine began due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the church was forced to close its doors.
After about a year apart, Jonines was not only an important cultural holiday for this community, but also an opportunity to come together and reconnect, church members said.
during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Attendants play Bulve- a game in which people who are “out” sit in the middle of a circle and must catch the ball to be back “in” - during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Children play on the dock during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
A baby boy photographed at sunset during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Children hold flower petals they will be throwing into a pond during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Girls toss petals off of the dock and into a small pond during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
As the sun began to set, a group of children set about tossing flower petals into the nearby pond, in a moment that mimicked a ritual of their ancestors. It is said that when a young woman lays her flower crown into the water on Jonines, then the young man who picks it up on the other side is fated to be her true love.
Young women light sparklers attached to a flower crown before dropping it into a pond during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
A flower crown with a lit sparkler attached drifts in a pond during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Although Jonines may not have produced any new soulmates, that we know of, this year, it did strengthen the bond of those within the Lithuanian-American community, attendees said.
Simon watches fireworks at the end of a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
Danius Anuzis watches fireworks from a dock during a midsummer festival hosted at Camp Pilenai, 15375 Austin Road in Manchester on Saturday, June 26, 2021.Alyte Katilius | Ann Arbor News
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