The Sea Festival is one of the most important events not only in the city of Klaipėda, but also in Lithuania, which has given meaning to the power and importance of the sea, highlighted the value of the maritime state, and encouraged people to dive into the undulating infinity by opening their minds and dedicating their lives to the sea. The Sea Festival is a meaningful element of Klaipėda's cultural life, presenting in its programme not only the initiatives of Klaipėda art representatives and collectives, the ideas of artists working all over Lithuania, but also the ideas of foreign professionals, who significantly complement the content of the event dedicated to maritime culture.

July 26-28, 2024 The Sea Festival will celebrate its 90th anniversary. When Klaipėda became a part of the Greater Lithuania and regained its port, the sea gained a special significance not only on the economic and political level. In 1934, a powerful tool for the dissemination of maritime culture was born - the Sea Festival. Dedicated to maritime culture from the very first day of its birth, the event each year honourably preserves its nine-decade-old traditions and programme elements that reflect the mission of the festival - to invite the whole of Lithuania to the sea.

Historical sources testify that the first Sea Festival, held in 1934, attracted more than 60,000 (the second highest number in the whole city) people from all over Lithuania to Klaipeda. The organisers of the festival hoped to encourage people to get to know the city and to accept it as an integral part of the country. Most of the visitors had never seen the sea before and were eager to take special trains from all over Lithuania. The President of the Republic of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona, also gave a special greeting speech to the guests of the first Sea Festival: "The crowds that were gathered in orderly fashion were brought here by the united purpose of expressing to all that Lithuanians sympathise with the importance of the sea for the freedom of their motherland, that they will protect and defend their rights of the sea to the best of their ability. The first such great celebration in free Lithuania will remain in our memory and in the history of our nation. From the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea ran the ancient Lithuanian Empire. We are proud that it was so."