Saint Casimir March 4

Saint Casimir, son of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV, was canonized in 1602. Alongside the celebrations of his feast day, merchants established a fair. In 1827 they received the privilege of holding the fair on Cathedral Square. In 1901, after the unveiling of a monument to Catherine the Great on Cathedral Square, the fair was moved to Lukiškės Square. In Soviet times, the fair was held at the Kalvarijos market.

In 1991 he returned to the Old Town of Vilnius. It first took place on Pilies Street, but has since grown to spread across Gediminas Avenue, crossing Cathedral Square and branching into Pilies Street, B. Radvilaitės Street, passing in front of St. Anne's Church and the Orthodox Cathedral of the Theotokos, and in the Tymas District on the left bank of the Vilnia River near Užupis.

In recent years, the fair has expanded to other cities in Lithuania, including Kaunas (at Laisvės alėja and Town Hall Square), Alytus, Klaipėda. Similar festivals called Kaziuki are also held in several cities in Poland, e.g. in Lidzbark Warmiński, Olsztyn, Szczecin, Gdańsk and Poznań, as well as in Hrodna, Belarus, the city where Saint Casimir died. A smaller version of the fair is also organized by Lithuanian communities abroad, notably inside the Lithuanian World Center in Lemont, Illinois.

Arts and crafts at the fair include handmade products by local artisans, such as woven and knitted clothing, shoes, toys, utensils, pots and jugs, jewelry, souvenirs and paints. Traditional food items include rye bread, bubliks, gingerbread, natural honey, beer, gira and colorfully packaged hard candies. Trades represented include wood carvers, blacksmiths, potters, weavers and knitters, wicker weavers.

Easter palm trees (Lithuanian: verbos) are one of the specialties of the fair. They are made of colorful dried wild flowers and herbs (around 150 different varieties of plants are used) tied around a wooden stick. Traditionally, they were taken to churches on Palm Sunday. Verba has become a traditional symbol of spring and Easter.

Another flagship product of the fair, the Coeur de Casimir, a heart-shaped gingerbread decorated with patterns and sugar figures (flowers, zigzags, birds, etc.) or popular first names. People buy them to give to their loved ones. It is customary to bring some back to those who were unable to attend.