2015 m.
The beginning of the festival is associated with the rebirth of the Raubonys water mill. It was then that a group of active people came up with the idea of organising a festival representing arts, crafts and music.
The guests who gathered at the Raubonys Craft Festival "Vilnonės dienos" organised by the Raubonys Village Community witnessed a small miracle: in the old Raubonys Carding Mill-Spinning Mill, the centuries-old machines came to life again and began to hum again, and the long "Wool Route" was laid out in front of the spectators' eyes. All curious visitors could see how sheep are sheared, how wool is carded, spun or spun, how our ancestors used to dye yarn and process sheepskins.
"Many of us have heard and seen the 'Way of Bread', the 'Way of Beer'. However, the "Wool Road" is probably the only one in Lithuania," said Rimantas Užuotas, Director of the Municipality Administration, to the people who have created the educational programme "Wool Road".
On the day of the festival, the educational programme "The Wool Road" was demonstrated four times, and new crowds of curious visitors kept arriving. The participants of the folklore ensembles "Pulkelis" (Panevėžys), "Alksna" (Mažeikiai), "Ratilio" (Vilnius), who were visiting Raubonys, also wanted to see "The Way of the Wool", after having performed their own sonorous songs.
This idea has grown into a traditional event. Every year the festival evolves, improves, becomes more attractive and attracts new participants.
2016 m.
As the summer of bobos was knocking on the door, the second craft festival "Vilnonės dienos" was buzzing at the Raubonys Water Mill. After a rainy summer, autumn brought beautiful weather.
During the festival, the Raubonys Karšyklos craft centre presented its activities. The women demonstrated their felt works: scarves, shawls, flowers, slippers, gloves, wristbands, etc. The girls showed their first needle felted products.
The festival was aimed at breaking the "Biggest Glove" record. Irena Poškuvienė and Danutė Pilotienė started knitting the variegated gloves and were joined by more people who wanted to contribute to the record. The lottery was very popular, with lots of great prizes: woolen bed linen, felted and knitted items, handicrafts donated by craftsmen.
The festival was not short of traditional folklore. The festival was opened by the Raubonys folklore ensemble "Tatula", continued by the folklore ensemble "Linkava" from the Linkuva district of the Pakruojis region, "Mindrė" from Vilnius, and "Salduvė" from Šiauliai.
The Raubonys hostesses fed the festival participants deliciously: they cooked the most delicious stews, made the most delicious mutton stew, and treated them to roasted lamb.
Although the Rauboniai heating plant opened a year ago, there was no shortage of people wanting to hear and see how the old heating machines work. The mill cinema was open all day, inviting people to stop and reminisce, there was no shortage of entertainment and surprises, and there were wool competitions.
2017 m.
On Saturday afternoon, the Raubonys community invited everyone to the third craft festival "Vilnonės dienos". The organisers of this excellent event were also favoured by the forces of nature: the morning drizzle of "mushrooms" stopped around midday, and the people who came to the festival were able to enjoy the pleasant warmth of the beginning of autumn.
For the third year in a row, on the second Saturday of September, people who came to Raubonys had the opportunity to observe the processes of sheep shearing, wool dyeing, fur dressing, and slipper braiding, to take part in the educational programme "The Way of the Fleece", to listen to folklore ensembles performing songs of our elders, and to listen to folklore groups singing traditional folk songs, to buy woollen scarves, gloves, and socks, and to enjoy the delicious High Styrian soup and stew prepared by local gaspadis. The festival was attended by "Saulutė" (Pasvalys), "Bitinėls" (Vaškai), "Siaudela" (Biržai), "Rags" (Pasvalys) and "Nalšia" (Vilnius).
2019 m.
The 4th Festival took place over two days and introduced the novelty of saunas. Everyone could try the extremely pleasant woolen sauna. Throughout the festival, there was no shortage of fun traditional music and songs: various folklore ensembles, bands and singers of traditional songs from all over Lithuania presented their concert programmes. In the evening, the sky was illuminated by a spectacular fire show!
2020 m.
The 5th Festival was a two-day event where participants could learn about different crafts, try and experience things that have never been discovered before. In the sauna courtyard, you could try out a wool sauna and a sauna spa, and learn about sauna traditions. The event was also dedicated to the little ones, with fun games in the children's courtyard. The festival featured a presentation of the culinary heritage of the Pasvalys region. The Atžalynas community invited people to taste the sweet rosettes made from sumac dough, the Daujėnai community served 'Patalkių mash', the Namišiai community served a rarely available dish - kreken, and the women of Rauboniai invited people to taste the most delicious 'Rauboniai cookery'. The celebration featured concerts by art groups from various parts of the country, theatre performances and lectures. The celebration was crowned by the band Thundertale and a spectacular fire show.
2021 m.
The 6th festival turned back the clock a hundred years, when Mr Jonas Ribbe was named as the owner of the mill. The festival was opened by the actors of Pasvalys Gintaras Kutkauskas and the Drãma studio who performed the play "Pictures of the Edge". The event, filled with the Smetonian era, was full of elegant ladies and charming gentlemen. A vintage car race was organised by the Retro Broliai club. There was no shortage of songs and entertainment throughout the day. The evening was crowned by Vaida Genytė, Egidijus Bavikinas and the Brass Bravo brass sextet. On the second day, the audience was entertained by the Krekenava theatre "Avilys", the lectures of the lecturer Rasa Čirienė, and, of course, the young people from Vaškai - the band "Gers".
2022 m.
2023 m.
The 8th edition of the international craft and art festival "Vilnonės dienos" brought together lovers of traditions and heritage, gave unforgettable impressions and good emotions. This year, almost all the highlights of the festival were dedicated to the Year of Aukštaitija.
This year, the "Vilnonės dienos" started in an unusual way - with a sightseeing tour of the Rauboniai region. The historian Gražvydas Balčiūnaitis designed a route of about ten kilometres, which gave the opportunity to get to know our region, hear long-forgotten stories and get acquainted with facts unknown even to the locals.
As always, a huge bouquet of folklore music awaited the audience, performed by ensembles from Biržai, Zarasai, Palanga, Latvia and our district. By the way, the folklore ensemble "Mėguva" from Palanga prepared a special programme dedicated to wool.
The evening of the first day was crowned by exceptional performances, where modern technologies were intertwined with eternal values: at 8 pm, against the backdrop of the old mill, the Panevėžys Puppet Carriage Theatre presented a performance "Around Time by Carriage". The main concert on Saturday evening was equally intriguing, with guitarist and music producer Viktoras Diawara and folklore researcher and performer Laurita Peleniūtė presenting electronic sutartines to the audience.
The evening culminated with a laser show, during which the sky above the old woman Tatula shone with patterns.
The second day of the festival is a bit quieter, but no less interesting. Guests were treated to traditional music concerts, the comedy "Rent and Three Eggs" by the theatre "Bičiuliai" from Taujėnai, a meeting with the herbalist Virgilijus Skirkevičius, and other entertainment.
Throughout the festival, various exhibitions were held in the mill premises, a championship of slipper threading was held, it was possible to try the craft of chest printing, and to taste the culinary heritage of the High Tatras. A real storyteller was waiting for the little guests, who followed the ancient fairy tales of the grandmothers. As every year, there was a sauna area, hosted by Latvian sauna bathers with a large fan following.
A meaningful highlight of the festival was the presentation of a bench dedicated to the memory of the journalist Zita Kelmickaitė.