Festival Baltica 2012 in Vērmaņdārzs
It is a pleasure to see the Latgalians, who have made the long journey and, it must be said, are quite well represented at the festival. Right at the entrance from the corner of Merķelis and Barons Street, the people of the Ludza Crafts Centre have set up. Rag rugs are spread out in the tent, and a fire burns in the improvised blacksmith's forge. Nearby, clay pots bask in the sun on a twig fence.
Today the thermometer in Riga has climbed to +32°C, with even more in the sun. This doesn't deter the many international folklore festival participants, dressed in linen shirts and thick woollen wraps, from performing on the three stages set up in Vērmaņdārzs. Dotted throughout are also craftspeople's tents, in which various crafts are demonstrated - forging, wool dyeing, weaving, knitting, folk painting - as well as handmade goods from natural materials for sale.
The prevailing heat seems to have scared off visitors, who are not quite ready for extended listening or shopping. In the tent erected beside the rose-surrounded monument to Anna Vērmane, the only audience is me and a couple of foreign tourists. The participants themselves maintain the cheerful spirit with songs and dances, whether on stage or among the spectators' benches.
The Baltica Festival has taken place as an annual tradition since 1987, each year in turn in Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia. This year the festival is being held in Latvia for the 9th time. Its mission is to preserve, develop, and promote in wider society the traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage of the Latvian, Livonian, Latgalian, and other peoples and nationalities.
It is a pleasure to see the Latgalians, who have made the long journey and are quite well represented at the festival. Right at the entrance from the corner of Merķelis and Barons Street, the people of the Ludza Crafts Centre have set up. Rag rugs are spread out in the tent, and a fire burns in the improvised blacksmith's forge. Nearby, clay pots bask in the sun on a twig fence.
Among the singers and dancers from Ludza county: Isnauda, the Ludza folklore ensemble Dzeipori, the Ņukši folklore ensemble Rīkšova; from Kārsava county, no fewer than five - the Bozova and Salnava Ethnographic Ensemble, the Mežvidi Folklore Ensemble, the Mērdzen Ensemble Mārga, and the Salnava Ensemble Sābri. Also represented are the counties of Baltinava, Cibla, Dagda, Daugavpils, Krāslava, Līvāni, Preiļi, Rēzekne, Riebiņi, Rugāji, Vārkava, Viļaka, and Viļāni.
And so I walk through Riga, looking and listening all around, and I feel pride and joy at the tenacity of Latvian and Latgalian identity.
The festival runs from 5 to 9 July this year, so there is still time to see, hear, and participate tomorrow - even just there in Vērmaņdārzs.
comments