The European Artistic Crafts Days (EACD) took place from 5 to 7 April 2019 in Lithuania (Vilnius, Kaunas and Trakai) and in 19 European countries. The European Artistic Crafts Days, launched in France in 2002, have become the leading European event devoted to the artistic crafts. Coordinated by the Institut National des Métiers d’Art (INMA), the cultural, economic, and tourist event showcases the exceptional expertise in the artistic crafts, in all its wealth and diversity. It is now the biggest international event devoted to this sector of activity.
EACD were organized in Vilnius by the Old Town Renewal Agency already 5th time. 15 workshops-galleries – members of Vilnius Municipal Crafts’ Programme took part in the EACD, 30 educational events in Vilnius took place including 4 exhibitions; 750 visitors took part in EACD events. 8 events in Trakai (Old Lithuanian Capital) were organised by Trakai Traditional Crafts Centre and 1 even in Kaunas was organised by Kaunas Cultural Centre.
The most active visitors of EACD were young pupils and students. They especially were interested in old traditional technologies and tried to learn how to make handicrafts items themselves. There were also visitors – tourists from England, Finland, France, Denmark and Ukraine.
Jewelry, enamel art, ceramics, weaving, spinning, amber treatment, stained glass, glass art, paper cutting, wood carving, textile, leather craft, bookbinding, paper marbling and shadow puppets crafts were presented during the European Artistic Crafts Days in Vilnius.
Since 2012, the European Artistic Crafts Days have become a European event. They are now well established in Europe and are becoming increasingly popular in each of the partner countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. In around 1 000 000 events throughout Europe, the unique programme—comprised of the exceptional opening of workshops, events, and demonstrations of know-how outdoors— invited the general public to meet artisans and visit artistic crafts training centres.