We asked Mindaugas Jonaicis, its president, to tell us about Pure Future, the oldest and most popular festival.
- Mindaugai, how did it all start, where did Pure Future come from?
- It all started in 2000, when I decided to quit the advertising business and pursue what I loved - music and music production, just creating for fun.
I am a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts, with a diploma in architecture, but I don't work much in my profession. I apply it more in festival production, on stages or generating infrastructure. In 2003, I had to present the project to the Government and the Seimas. Back then, only „shadow“ events, basketball players' weddings, secret lobbies and other celebrations took place in Trakai Castle. But these were not crimes, it was just that everyone was afraid to open the castle gates to the public. We had to have a long explanatory discussion, showing European examples.
In 2004, the ice moved. In 2005, the Ministry of Culture issued the first permit to organise the festival. By that time I had already produced mass events for Nokia Plug IN and created many marketing plans for other clubs and festivals. I was making a good living, with an annual turnover of more than ten million a year. And so began the festival, which every year surprises in some way, so to speak, reflecting the political and cultural ups and downs of Lithuania at the time. Of course, things are going up, and the festival is now ranked 7th in Europe, among the 10 strongest festivals. For the record, Criemsfields is firmly in 6th place. By the way, the name Pure Future was coined by Rytis Zemkauskas, the author of LNK's Snob Cinema, and our family friend A. Liutkevičienė. I will always remember how this name was born.
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