During Jāni, you will see tree branches and flowers everywhere. Originally, tree branches were put on homes and fences to ward off evil spirits. That tradition continues, and tree branches are put on everything. Wreaths are made of flowers and leaves and are worn on the head. A well-known part of this celebration is the search for the mythical fern flower, though some suggest that at one time the fern flower was a symbol of secret knowledge; today is it almost always synonymous with having sexual relations. Young couples traditionally wander away from the main bonfire in search of the flower, and there is a subsequent increase in births nine months later. (Some of that info came from Wikipedia, in case you are wondering.)
While a lot of people go to the countryside, we had nowhere in the country to go, so we stayed in town. One of the major roads that runs by the river was closed to traffic, and everyone gathered there for the celebration. There had to be thousands of people there. Two big stages were set up, and large screens were set up in various spots. Lots of folk dancing and folk singing took place on the stage. It was fun to see the people in the crowd sing along on the folk songs. I guess they are taught these songs all the way from early childhood, so everyone knows them. While we have a lot of celebrations in the US, I don't think we have anything that compares to this.
Because the celebration goes all night long, everything is shut down on the 24th so that people can catch up on their sleep. Don and I stayed at the festival until around 10:00, but then we decided to head for our apartment. It was strange, but last night was the first night that I felt as though I didn't belong. I hadn't felt that way at all before, but seeing all of these people having fun celebrating this holiday together with all of these old traditions made me feel out of place.
Here are some pictures of the event. They really don't do a good job of showing how big the crowd is, but you can get an idea, anyway.
Here is the sign advertising the festival. We've seen them all over town. The word on the sign can be pronounced as Lee-go or as Lee-gwah.
Here are some examples of the flowers at the event. They were all over the place. Latvians love their flowers. You can see people carrying bunches of them all the time.
Whenever you see a Latvian woman or girl in an authentic folk costume, you will more than likely see a flower wreath on her head. There was a booth at the festival that was selling the floral wreaths, and, of course, I had to get one. You know, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Anyway, here is a picture of my flower wreath.
Here are some pictures of people performing on stage. Notice that there are tree branches
covering everything.
Here are some pictures of the crowd. They really can't begin to show how crowded it was.
There were several of these on the boulevard. Bonfires are a big part of the Jāni festival. They light them at sundown and have to keep them lit until sunrise.
Here's a picture of Don holding one of the favorite snacks of the area. It's a potato that has been sliced on a spiral slicer, put on a skewer, stretched out, and then deep fried. It is very popular around town. We had to stand in line for quite some time to get one. I may try and fix them and see how popular they are in our area.
These pictures can't begin to tell you what a big event this is around Latvia. There isn't a holiday in the US that can even compare. As I mentioned, everything shuts down for those two days, and the people party hearty! It was so much fun to watch the people enjoy themselves while singing, and it was great to see some of the awesome folk dancing groups perform. While I am looking forward to coming home, there are many things about Latvia that I will miss, and the people's love of folk music and dance is one of them.
Until next time...
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