In less than a month, on 21 February, the Old Town will host the second annual Shrovetide celebration to which the Riga Municipality invites everyone to join in.
Shrovetide or Meteņi according to the Latvian traditions is associated with the expectation of spring, when winter is spent and spring is awakened, helping to awaken the energy in both nature and people. It is the halfway point between Christmas and Easter. Shrovetide is celebrated in the second new moon after the winter solstice and varies from year to year according to the lunar calendar.
This year Shrovetide will be celebrated in Old Riga on 21 February and the municipality invites everyone to join in and experience one of the most joyful and colourful Latvian traditional celebrations. Here you can meet the traditional masked groups of Shrovetide - the mummeries, the maskers, the children of Shrovetide, take part in games and bragging races, and perform various rituals to ensure a prosperous and fruitful year ahead for all.
The festivities will open with a bonfire in the Town Hall Square at 12.00 and a large masquerade procession that will invade the streets and squares of the Old Town. Walk route: Town Hall Square–Kalķu Street–Skārņu Street–Audēju Street–Valņu Street–Kalķu Street–Līvu laukums–Town Hall Square.
The capital invites everyone to come in a mask or create one on the spot. They can be traditional or social, reflecting a contemporary issue. The main thing is to take part and enjoy the fact that anyone can become a festival bearer on Shrovetide!
The Town Hall Square will be a hive of activity during the event: you can take part in sledding, enjoy a traditional mask exhibition, take part in creative workshops, go on a Shrovetide shopping fair, enjoy delicious treats and take a professional 360-degree video.
The stage in the Town Hall Square will host traditional masked groups, as well as the favourite groups "JUUK" and "Tautumeitas", dances with Jelgava folklore group "Dimzēns", a fire-ball burning ritual at 17.00 and a concert by hip-hop artist Fiņķis.
The event will be hosted by charismatic folklorists Ieva Dzene and Andris Kapusts.
One of the aims of the event is to show how differently Shrovetide is celebrated across Latvia, highlighting the richness of Latvian cultural heritage. Expanding the event programme, a new stopping point in the Old Town will be the Līvu Square which will be transformed into "Latgalu Sēta” (Latgalian farm) on 21 February from 12.00 to 15.00. In the Līvu Square you will have the opportunity to join a very different and unique celebration of Shrovetide in Latgale - Aizgavēnis. There, together with the Latgalians - "Speiga” from Ambeli, "Svātra” from Daugavpils, "Ceiruleiti” from Livani and "Ceidari" and "Garataka” from Riga, there will be feasting, singing and dancing away the winter sleep.
You can find out more about culture events in Riga on the website www.kultura.riga.lv and by following the information on the Riga City Council’s social media pages “Rīga” and “Rīgā notiek”.
Information was prepared by Ineta Miglāne, Project Coordinator, External Communication Division of the Communications Department of the Riga City Council, e-mail: ineta.miglane@riga.lv.
