Lithuania celebrates Assumption Day with folk festival overtones

Lithuania, alongside with many other catholic countries, celebrated the Feast of The Virgin Mary's Assumption on Friday, but with folk festival overtones.
Various festive events and ceremonies take place in Lithuanian towns and villages, such as famous ethnographic settlement Rumsiskes, sea resort Palanga and Pivasiunai village, which is widely known for its massive pilgrimages. A solemn feast of the Assumption is celebrated in most of Lithuanian churches.
Despite widespread belief that the feast is a solely church holiday, in Lithuania it also has deep folkloric origins and is more known by the name Zoline ("Grass feast").
The idea of Zoline is to celebrate the end of basic field works, express people's gratitude for the year's fruits and vegetables and saying farewell to the greens and flowers.
Blessing of herbs, flowers, crops and vegetables in the church is among the holiday's most characteristic customs in Lithuania.
"First of all, it is a church holiday. But it is also a subject of what was important for the peasants," Libertas Klimka, Lithuanian professor of ethnology, was quoted by local media
"You can see (on that day) what the upcoming winter is going to be like, poor and miserable or substantial enough," he said.
In some regions of Lithuania, such as Southern district Dzukija, it has been called Kopustine ("Cabbage feast").
It is popular to visit relatives and friends during Zoline, therefore, traffic becomes more heavy in Lithuania on this day.