Lietuvos etnologija / Lithuanian ethnology

Following up on my research into youth leisure published in the last issue of Lithuanian Ethnology, in this article I compare my personal field research carried out from 1988 to 2012 and publications in the press from 1926 to 1939, analysing the calendar feasts celebrated by Lithuanians in the Vilnius region. Based on the same methodology, the study revealed that the value of leisure and festivals as a source of ethnology differs in the periodical press. While descriptions of leisure in the press tolerate traditional forms, the descriptions of festivals promote only modern customs in which one cannot trace the specificity of the customs of the Vilnius region. Although the periodical press declared its desire to preserve old folk traditions, it was a reliable tool in shaping the modern calendar.