Ukmergė is one of the oldest settlements in Lithuania. The town has always been an industrial centre, famed for its cabinetmakers, metalworkers, and light industry workers. Despite the colourful history, a vibrant cultural scene and favourable geographical location, Ukmergė’s image is low and people in Lithuania do not know much about the city.
The Ukmergė game was co-organised by the International Cultural Programme Centre and the Municipality of Ukmergė Region.
The game challenged the residents of Ukmergė to come up with the best ideas for positioning their city, i.e. to create a complete and distinctive image strategy for Ukmergė.
To watch the team’s presentations, follow the link.
Lithuania in Miniature
The winning team introduced a plan to use the two hectares of an undeveloped plot of land, which altogether covers 22 hectares, in the town centre to build an open-air park Lithuania in Miniature. Even though the winning team admits this is not an original idea and a similar park exists in Switzerland (Swissminiatur park located on the shore of Lake Lugano), they persuaded the majority that such a project would improve Ukmergė’s image and attract new visitors.
UKEXPO: Made in Ukmergė
Ukmergė lies on the crossroads between the largest Lithuanian cities. This favourable position could be beneficial for the promotion of local businesses. The idea is to build a huge exhibition centre on one of the largest crossroads in Lithuania, which would house all local productions. Visitors would explore Ukmergė in the all-year-round Ukmergė Exposition - UKEXPO - which would persuade them to visit the town to look for locally made goods.
Ukmergė Rocks
Ukmergė has a reputation for being the cradle of Lithuanian rock music. Thus, it would only be right to build on this reputation. The idea is to organise an annual rock music festival to attract visitors and enliven the local cultural offer.
Plumbers‘ Festival, after Kernagis
The town is often associated with plumbers because of the famous Lithuanian bard Vytautas Kernagis. It is believed that his song A Plumber from Ukmergė made the town famous. This idea suggests holding an annual international Plumbers’ Festival, where visitors would be invited to enter a competition to fixing plumb problems. The residents of the town could be encouraged to register if they need to have plumbing fixed in their homes. The plumbing problems could be fixed free of charge and the best plumbers would be awarded at the festival.
Ukmergė - Pilgrimage Destination
The idea invests in the nearby Vepriai district, and turns it into a centre of attraction to promote Ukmergė as a stop on a pilgrimage road. The team suggested marking the best of the ‘Road to the Cross’ around the lake and river with road crosses. Sculptors attending sculpting workshops could be encouraged to build traditional wooden sculptures for the area around the lake.
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