Tens of thousands of people gathered in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, for a three-day festival celebrating the country’s famous cold beet soup. The event, called Vilnius Pink Soup Fest, turned the city bright pink as visitors came together to enjoy šaltibarščiai.
The soup is popular in Lithuania during the country’s short summer because it is cool and refreshing. It is made with beetroot, kefir, boiled potatoes, eggs, cucumbers and dill. Organisers said more than three metric tonnes of kefir, a fermented milk drink, will be used during the festival.
Visitors from Lithuania and other countries joined a special “Pink Break” lunch, where people sat at long tables and ate the soup together. One tourist, Connor Holmes from the United Kingdom, said he came after finding the festival online and thinking it sounded wonderfully silly. He even made pink knight armour and carried a spoon instead of a sword.
The city also held parades on land and along the Neris River, with people dressing as cucumbers, eggs and beets.