VILNIUS — Miss Universe is taking on Mrs. Universe, not for who’s more beautiful but over a trademark issue. Miss Universe, which is owned by American real estate mogul Donald Trump and NBC Universal, contend that Lithuania’s Mrs. Universe is infringing on their copyright and is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages. “We have filed [...]

It’s another inconspicuous August weekend in the Baltic states — the last one of summer, in fact. But while September looks action-packed, August is going out with more of a whimper than a bang. The biggest names on are the loop-happy Australian street performer Dub FX, Brit folkie Sol Invictus and indie rock sensation Alina [...]

Used to be in the Baltics about the only Western musical acts they could get over were total has-beens from the 1970s and 80s. Well, after going all out last weekend with a ton of top-notch musical options, this weekend is much more low-key with the biggest name being ancient Scottish hard rockers Nazareth. Their [...]

VILNIUS — While most Lithuanians spend half of their summer swimming in one of the country’s 6,000 lakes, until now none had gone underwater with a camera in hand. That’s perhaps understandable, as underwater photography involves very expensive equipment. But now, for the first time a public gallery displaying underwater photos of the country’s biggest [...]

After largely taking last weekend off entertainment-wise, the Baltic states are offering a fully-stocked line-up of events the upcoming week. For big Western acts, Riga sees the return of living legend DJ Tiesto while death-metal rockers Cannibal Corpse thrash their way through all three countries. Lithuania is holding the largest country music festival in the [...]

UTENA COUNTY, Lithuania — The soul of the Baltic states resides in a village, and summer is the best time to uncover it. Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians were primarily a rural people for centuries, their largest cities inhabited by other ethnic groups. The lyrics of their folk songs are often about forests, mushroom hunting and [...]

Roasting, baking, sweltering. You could fry an egg on my stomach. Yeah, it’s hot in the Baltics this weekend. To be honest, what I would recommend above anything else is to head to the seaside for the day. Like most of Europe, in the August events in the Baltics wind down a bit as pretty [...]

VILNIUS — It’s been a hot one this summer, but Vilnius is reveling in the heat with tourism better than last year’s rock bottom level, a number of festivals and events and consistently sunny, warm weather the northern city usually dreams about. I tried finding an excerpt of translated Lithuanian poetry that described Vilnius in [...]

The Russian pop saga of the New Wave Festival will draw to a close in Jūrmala, but it will be upstaged by Mika. Sort of the male response to Lady Gaga, the British pop star is coming to all three Baltic states over the next few days. Interestingly for a region not known for its [...]

Does anyone actually like Russian pop music? Well, I already know the answer to that — in the Baltics, all sorts of people. And who am I to judge? So, if you happen to like cheesy Russian pop or shaking your rump to techno beats until dawn, you’re in luck this weekend as all three [...]