A tradition that began after 1934, when the Sea Festival was celebrated for the first time in Klaipėda. Starting around the 1970s, when traditional village and fishermen’s festivals began to be celebrated, the residents of Deverniai adopted this ritual to honor the fishermen who never returned home and the ancient craft of fishing.
The wreath must be woven by a fisherwoman (a fisherman’s wife) from oak, rowan, and olive branches; she decorates it with flowers and lights a candle. The wreath is then carried out to the lagoon by a procession, where an elderly fisherman lowers it into the water.
Now that fishing no longer takes place in Dreverna, the district mayor carries out this task. This tradition used to be complemented by the burning of a bonfire built inside an old, disused boat; the fellowship of all the villagers gathered together as they sang and shared the food they had brought; the throwing of a fisherman’s boot; catching eels in a barrel; raising an anchor; and so on.