Many children often wonder how all the gifts fit in Santa's sleigh. The answer to this centuries-old riddle is simple - then a reindeer-drawn sleigh rolls across the world and a workshop train full of gifts, patiently at the station waiting for Santa to restock the sleigh with presents.
This train will miss one weekend, December 13-15 Vilnius railway station located next door in the historical rolling stock park, transforming into an experiential Santa Claus station with ice sculptures, sustainable handicraft workshops and familiar and beloved characters.
It is the ice sculptures that will create magical impressions in the park: deer, Santa's chair, sleigh, gnomes - everything will turn into ice as if by Santa's magical bridge. A total of 16 sculptures made of 8 tons of ice can be admired in the park, including a special ice photo wall.
Ice sculpture creator Jomantas Padgurskas says: "Christmas is a time when miracles happen. We offer you to experience a short-lived miracle - to see and feel the beauty of ice. We created sculptures that both young and old can admire. And temporality gives the sculptures even more beauty, just like this wonderful period."
According to Vija Platačiūtė, head of the Railway Museum, the theme of this year's Christmas event was dictated by the values of the LTG Group, the concept of the Track Park and last year's experience – sustainability, community and activities for the whole family.
"It is very important for us that we can become a festive center of attraction for Naujininkai and Stations for residents of microdistricts. For us, this fellowship is the essence of Christmas, which we want to nurture throughout the year," says V. Platačiūtė.
The Railway Museum begins a long-term cooperation with the Automuzie located in the neighborhood. The beginning of this friendship will be marked by their stop at the icy Santa Claus station with a vintage car and interesting stories.
Sustainability is important for the entire LTG group, so during the creative workshop it will be possible to make various products from nature-friendly materials: candlesticks, lanterns, kaleidoscopes, Christmas toys. A magical forest sprouting from Santa's workshop train with a gnome factory, which you can look inside through the windows, is also made from sustainable materials. Its author, Paulė Bocullaitė, created a forest from cardboard boxes and other secondary raw materials, sculpted 24 different gnomes from natural plasticine she made herself, and made a house for them herself.
"When creating this installation, I tried to use handmade rather than factory-made decorations and elements, which not only creates a lively and authentic image, but also shows that Christmas can be sustainable." I really like this direction chosen by the Track Park. In general, we are happy to have such a park in the neighborhood - the windows of my house look directly at it, and my children are big fans of trains", says P. Bocullaitė.
Entrance to the Track Park and activities are free. There will also be a delicacies area, tastings will be held.
The Rail Park of the Railway Museum, opened to visitors in 2022, is decorated with more than 30 historical rolling stock, including not only various trains, wagons restaurant, coupe wagon, motorcoaches, steam locomotives, but also equipment used for road works, tank tractor.
