{"id":97783,"date":"2026-06-02T13:17:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/97783\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:17:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:17:37","slug":"barbie-pink-soup-festival-brings-thousands-to-party-in-this-historic-lithuanian-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/97783\/","title":{"rendered":"Barbie-pink soup festival brings thousands to party in this historic Lithuanian town"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vilnius, LITHUANIA (AP) \u2014 A festival honoring Lithuania\u2019s iconic cold beet soup brought tens of thousands of visitors Saturday to its capital city, which was fully decked out in pink.<\/p>\n

The colorful three-day Vilnius Pink Soup Fest featured a synchronized \u201cPink Break\u201d lunch of revelers from across the globe all sharing in the beet soup, known as \u0161altibar\u0161\u010diai, sitting at long tables. Organizers estimated that more than three metric tons (6,614 lbs) of the fermented milk drink kefir, a key ingredient, would be consumed over the three days and more than 100,000 people would attend the event.<\/p>\n

Click to Gallery<\/p>\n

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A visitor slides down a water slide into a giant soup bowl during the Pink Soup Fest in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

\"Restaurant<\/p>\n

Restaurant waiters participate in carry bowls of pink soup run competition during the Pink Soup Fest in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

\"Bowls<\/p>\n

Bowls of pink soup seen during the Pink Soup Fest in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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A visitor takes part in the Pink Soup Fest festival celebration in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors take part in the Pink Soup Fest festival celebration in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People eat pink soup during a pink break in the Pink Soup Fest celebration, on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors take part in the Pink Soup Fest celebration on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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A girl ready to share Pink soup during the Pink Soup Fest celebration, on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People eat pink soup during a pink break in the Pink Soup Fest celebration, on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People eat pink soup during a pink break in the Pink Soup Fest celebration, on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

Lithuanians devour the refreshing soup during the Baltic country’s short summer. Beside beets and kefir, the ingredients include boiled potatoes, eggs, cucumbers and dill.<\/p>\n

The festival attracted an international crowd, including tourist Connor Holmes, who came from the United Kingdom after he found the event online and thought “it was completely ridiculous in the best possible way.”<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I knew it, I was building a suit of pink knight armor, carrying a spoon instead of a sword, and decorating my shield with eggs, dill and potatoes,\u201d he said. \u201cAt that point, coming to Vilnius and seeing all this craziness myself felt like the next logical step.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city transformed into a giant pink playground as tourists and locals alike dressed up in pink. Others celebrated in cucumber, egg and beet costumes as the city hosted a parade on land as well as along the Neris River. <\/p>\n

Jolanta \u017dukien\u0117, a teacher from Vilnius, said this year was her fourth time attending the festival. She brought her three children and her husband along on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see how the number of attractions and visitors from abroad is growing, and Vilnius is becoming a real magnet for everyone who loves good food and unique experiences,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The festival is part of the city’s efforts to increase tourism to the Baltic country.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at the crowds on the banks and the decorated boats, we joked that cold beet soup already dominates both land and water,” said Dovil\u0117 Aleksandravi\u010dien\u0117, director of Go Vilnius, the city’s development agency. “Perhaps the air is next.\u201d<\/p>\n


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A visitor slides down a water slide into a giant soup bowl during the Pink Soup Fest in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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\n \"Restaurant<\/p>\n

Restaurant waiters participate in carry bowls of pink soup run competition during the Pink Soup Fest in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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\n \"Bowls<\/p>\n

Bowls of pink soup seen during the Pink Soup Fest in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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A visitor takes part in the Pink Soup Fest festival celebration in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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\n \"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors take part in the Pink Soup Fest festival celebration in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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\n \"People<\/p>\n

People eat pink soup during a pink break in the Pink Soup Fest celebration, on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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\n \"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors take part in the Pink Soup Fest celebration on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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A girl ready to share Pink soup during the Pink Soup Fest celebration, on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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\n \"People<\/p>\n

People eat pink soup during a pink break in the Pink Soup Fest celebration, on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

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\n \"People<\/p>\n

People eat pink soup during a pink break in the Pink Soup Fest celebration, on a railway station platform in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is set to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday after the Trump administration signaled it was pausing contentious plans to move forward with a nearly $1.8 billion fund that could compensate allies of President Donald Trump who believe they have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted. <\/p>\n

The hearing before the House Appropriations Committee was scheduled for discussion of the Justice Department’s budget, but lawmakers will almost certainly focus their questioning on the creation of a fund that has provoked outrage over the mere possibility that violent pro-Trump rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be eligible for payouts. <\/p>\n

The Republican president is now reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund established to resolve his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, a person familiar with his thinking said on Monday, in the face of Republican backlash and legal setbacks. The Justice Department also said Monday it would comply with a Virginia court temporarily blocking the administration’s \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund,\u201d effectively agreeing to pause the plan for at least two weeks. <\/p>\n

Another judge in Florida raised the prospect of reopening the IRS lawsuit because of \u201cgrievous allegations\u201d of improper dealing made against the administration by settlement critics.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has defended the fund as an appropriate measure to make up for what officials insist was a weaponized Justice Department during President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, a claim the Biden administration strongly denied. Though some Trump supporters, including participants in the Capitol riot, have celebrated the announcement, the reaction among Republicans in Congress has been decidedly more hostile, forcing Blanche to try to assuage a GOP constituency that generally operates in close alignment with the administration.<\/p>\n

The furor has especially complicated matters in the Senate, where Republicans defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement agencies. Republicans who returned to Washington on Monday said they won\u2019t have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on the fund. Many have pushed the administration to impose limits or scrap the idea altogether.<\/p>\n

At a Senate budget hearing last month, Blanche refused to rule out the possibility that those who carried out violence on Jan. 6 could be eligible for payouts and has repeatedly said in interviews that anyone who feels persecuted by the criminal justice system is free to apply. Payouts will be decided by a five-member commission appointed by Blanche.<\/p>\n

But he has apparently struck a more conciliatory tone in private when confronted by Republican anger. <\/p>\n

Blanche encountered a groundswell of opposition last month at a tense private meeting with GOP senators, with more than half raising concerns, including by shouting at the Justice Department’s top official, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said in a recent episode of his podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were fireworks at an epic level \u2014 and I’ve got to say, it’s one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate,” Cruz said.<\/p>\n

Behind closed doors, Blanche was \u201cadamant\u201d that no one who assaulted police at the Capitol would receive compensation, according to Cruz.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said not just \u2018no,\u2019 but \u2018hell no,\u2019\u201d the senator recalled.<\/p>\n


\n \"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE – Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gabriela Passos, File)<\/p>\n

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\n \"Acting<\/p>\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommittee hearing to address the Trump administration’s budget request for the Justice Department, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mariam Zuhaib)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"Acting<\/p>\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche arrives for a closed-door meeting with Republican senators who are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom after it has failed to win enough party support, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"Acting<\/p>\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks to a reporter outside the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE – Acting U.S. attorney general Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department, May 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)<\/p>\n

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