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Music & Culture Festivals in Kaunas
Kaunas Jazz
Lithuania's second city, at the meeting of the Nemunas and Neris rivers, an interwar capital famous for its Bauhaus-era modernist architecture, a UNESCO City of Design, and a strong live-music and student culture.
Run by Kaunas Jazz, with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
Kaunas Jazz has been the Baltics' benchmark jazz festival since 1991, when it launched just after Lithuania restored its independence. Every late April it takes over Kaunas, the interwar capital and now a UNESCO City of Design, with headline concerts in the National Kaunas Drama Theatre and other halls, spilling out to Vilnius, Palanga and smaller towns across the season. The 2026 edition marks the festival's thirty-fifth anniversary. It is programmed with an ear for both the American mainstream and European and Baltic players, and paired with an academic conference, so it rewards people who want to follow the music seriously rather than just drop in for a night.
Best months
The main spring festival runs over a long weekend in late April, timed near International Jazz Day, with the full programme published in February. Individual concerts are ticketed and the marquee names sell out, so buy ahead. April in Kaunas is cool and changeable, and the festival is indoors.
Getting there & around
Kaunas is about an hour from Vilnius by frequent train or bus and has its own international airport. The main festival venues, including the National Kaunas Drama Theatre, are in or near the city centre and walkable from each other. Book concert tickets through the official festival site in advance, since the headline shows fill up.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Kaunas Jazz
OrganizerKaunas Jazz was founded in 1991 on the initiative of Jonas Jucas, with the first international festival held on 19 to 21 April that year, soon after Lithuania restored its independence. It has grown into the largest jazz festival in the country, marking its thirty-fifth anniversary in 2026 with more than fifty performances that spread from Kaunas to Vilnius and Palanga. The programme centres on late April, around International Jazz Day, and pairs concerts with an academic conference.