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Latvia's essentials in eight easy-going questions. Whatever your age, you can play along and discover something new.
Fresh arrival 0–3 · Birch-grove wanderer 4–6 · Honorary Latvian 7–8
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Women and girls weave wreaths from flowers, grasses and herbs, while men and boys wear wreaths of oak leaves, a sign of the oak's strength. Bonfires burn from sunset until the next morning, and the wreaths, the fires and the round Jāņi cheese are all symbols of the sun.
Photo: Heinrihsons, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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Ice hockey is Latvia's most popular sport, and the 2023 World Championship was held partly in Riga. The bronze was Latvia's first ever World Championship medal, so the very next day, 29 May, became an extra public holiday for everyone to celebrate.
Photo: Dave O, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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Jūrmala simply means 'seaside' in Latvian, and its long beach on the Gulf of Riga has drawn holidaymakers for a very long time, thanks to the sea breeze and the scent of the pine trees. Many lovely old wooden houses still stand among the pines.
Photo: Raul Cortez999, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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The first Latvian Song Festival was held in Riga in 1873, and today about 40,000 singers and dancers take part, with thousands of voices joining in one giant open-air choir. Together with the song festivals of Estonia and Lithuania, it is on UNESCO's list of the world's intangible cultural heritage.
Photo: Оригинала фотографии Unknown author Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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Latvia's dark rye bread, rupjmaize, is baked from coarse rye flour with malt and caraway seeds, and one special kind of it is protected by the EU as a traditional speciality. Latvians even turn rye bread into a dessert, layering the sweetened crumbs with whipped cream and berry jam.
Photo: Bearas, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
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Each day of the Latvian calendar comes with up to five first names, about 1,000 names a year, and many people celebrate their name day as well as their birthday. People whose names are not in the calendar are not left out: they can celebrate on 22 May.
Photo: Sendker, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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Venta Rapid, in Kuldīga, is about 250 metres wide but only about 2 metres high, which makes it one of the widest waterfalls in Europe. Long ago, people hung wicker baskets at the falls to catch the salmon that leapt into the air and fell back.
Photo: Dāvis Kļaviņš, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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The Cat House was built in 1909, and a famous story says its owner, angry with the city's merchants' guild, turned the two cats so that their tails pointed at the guild's hall. In the end, he had to turn them around to face the hall.
Photo: Horvat, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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