Two pretty girls, happy to celebrate a national holiday, dress up for Ligo; not in traditional Latvian dress (way too much skin showing) but with traditional materials and a modern twist....
wearing shoes that would fit into any American teenagers closet....
Old and new, traditional and modern, the Latvian people are trying to redefine themselves as "people open to the world." They love American songs, movies, clothes, and food but also cling to their own heritage. We saw their love of heritage (while embracing other cultures) the other day during the Baltica Folklore Festival 2012. We were just lucky enough to have it in Riga this year.
Folk singers from all over Europe (and even further) come to sing, show off their authentic costumes and learn from each other. Everyone of these folk singing groups seemed to be having a great time.
It started with a parade that unfortunately we missed. We found some photos online to show you...
We did see old Latvians ....
and very young Latvians, participating in the event. You could tell that Latvians have a love for their heritage and are passing it on to their children.
And Latvians wave their flag as proud as we do ours.
In the photo below, notice the American flag.....that is what first piqued our interest in the music we heard playing from a nearby park. It sounded country/western. That is one type of music we don't hear a lot of in Riga, (though we have seen a group of people at a park one evening, doing line dancing to country music).
Yes, a group from Tennessee came to the Baltica Folklore Festival!
Hurray for the Red,White & Blue!
So when Elder & Sister Davis, along with several other senior missionaries, came to the park to investigate that country music we were hearing... we saw this very American group, singing country folk songs, clogging, square dancing, etc. with Latvians clapping to the beat, and thoroughly enjoying the show.
What fun! An old-fashioned hoe-down in downtown Riga, Latvia.
And then to be truly united folk singers, Latvians were invited to join them on stage. They played songs together and then they grabbed people from the audience and taught them a simple square dance. It was so cute and the Latvian people readily joined in the fun.
We don't know what country this folk singer was from but he sure enjoyed watching the Americans.
The free open air concert was soon over and all us missionaries decided to stroll around the park where people were selling homemade food and craft items. There was one booth selling folk costume patterns. Sister Davis would have loved to buy one...unfortunately, they aren't printed in English!
This was the hat booth...
Younger .....
and older.....
and in between....
Everyone wanted their picture taken. :)
And we were happy to oblige. The colors were so wonderful to see. Everywhere we looked were people dressed in colorful costumes, that someone had taken great pride in making.
These people were gathered around a small stage where a man and woman were singing....
And these two love-birds were dancing to the music.
Some people were tired and needed a rest....
Some needed entertainment...
This young lady needs a good foot massage, but her companions seem content with life.
We saw some really beautiful headbands...
on really beautiful women.
And everyone was proud of their heritage.
It was a very fun event, that we might never had known about, if our curiosity about music hadn't been piqued. And these gnomes below? They look bewildered by it all....
And here is Elders Davis...
who was taking this couple's picture and they said,
"No, you must be in the picture, too!"
And so he joined them.
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