Kankliavimas Suvalkijoje seniau ir dabar

ENPlaying kanklės (a Lithuanian plucked string musical instrument) in Suvalkija has been known since the end of the 19th century. At that time, most people played kanklės alone, but at the same time the first kanklės players‘circles appeared in Griškabūdis. In 1906 Pranas Puskunigis from Griškabūdis neighbourhood brought playing kanklės to Skriaudžiai, and then to Kaunas. In the inter-war period in Lithuania there were quite a few old individual kanklės players, and the groups of playing kanklės started to develop much later: in 1987 in Šakiai, in 1989 in Patašinė, in 1982 in Kazlų Rūda, and in 1992 in Marijampolė. Particularly widespread the music of kanklės was in Marijampolė: a kanklės school was established, and kanklės music festivals were started.