Potato Herd Day

Today we are talking about the preservation of traditions, cultural identity and intangible cultural heritage. However, traditions do not remain because we write about them in books or record them in collections. They remain when we live them. That is why we need Potato Herd Day. Not so that we have another date on the calendar. But so that at least once a year, all of Lithuania remembers one of the most unique traditions of Dzūkija's culinary heritage. Potato Herds on a dried cabbage leaf are not just food. They embody the history of our region, hard work, family togetherness, respect for the land and a simple but wise way of life. This is a tradition that was born from people's ability to live modestly, to preserve what they have grown and to share what they have. Today, we sit down at a common table less and less often. Children see how the stove is fired, how potatoes are grated or the future herd is placed on a cabbage leaf. If we do not pass on these experiences now, in a few decades they may remain only in photographs. Therefore, Potato Herd Day is not about herds. It is about people. About grandmothers who still remember the true taste. About children who see for the first time that a tradition can be alive. About families who gather at the same table for at least one evening. About communities that understand that they are strong when they protect their roots. At the end of 2025, the tradition of baking potato herds on a dried cabbage leaf will be included in the Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Lithuania, and this year the certificate was solemnly awarded. This is an important assessment of our land. However, it is also a responsibility. Inclusion in the register is not the end of the tradition. It is just the beginning of a new stage. From now on, it is the duty of all of us to ensure that this tradition lives on, is important to us, and is passed on. Therefore, let us celebrate September 30 as Potato Herd Day. We want the bandas to be baked not only in the Lazdijai region on that day. So that the Dzūki living in Vilnius, the young people studying in Kaunas, the families of our region living abroad will remember them. So that schools will talk about this tradition, communities will organize joint dinners, museums will tell its story, and people will share their families' recipes and memories on social networks. We invite you to join us, so that the Day of the Bulvinia Banda becomes not only the day of the Lazdijai district, but of all Dzūki. A day when we are proud of what we have. Sometimes we think that our traditions are too simple to be interesting to others. However, the world today is looking for authenticity. It is looking for real stories, real people and real flavors. What seems everyday to us may be extraordinary to someone else. Professor Viktorija Daujotytė has said: “A person who protects is safer. Where there is no protection for the past, there is no protection for the present and future.” This idea is also very suitable for Potato Herd Day. By preserving our traditions, we preserve not only the recipe or the method of cooking. We preserve our identity. Therefore, Potato Herd Day is needed not only to cook herds. It is needed to remember who we are. To be proud of our land. So that children know what their grandparents lived by. So that the Dzūkas living throughout Lithuania can feel a sense of community with their native land for at least one day. So that we understand that intangible cultural heritage is not the past. It is alive as long as we live in it. Therefore, let September 30 become another unifying day. Not only at a common table, but also around a common idea – that what we have inherited is worth protecting, nurturing and passing on. Because only by preserving our traditions do we preserve ourselves.