Passport tour continues across U.S.

Gallery

12 Jul 2010

Youth song festival completes five days of hot fun in Rīga

For five days, from July 6-11, an estimated 31,000 young singers, dancers and musicians performed in Rīga during the 10th Latvian Youth Song and Dance Celebration.

The festival, which took place under often sweltering weather at various venues around the capital city, marked the culmination of five years of preparation by more than 100,000 children and youth around Latvia who studied and perfected their performances.

One goal of the celebration is to prepare Latvia’s youth to carry forward the tradition of song festivals, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has included in its list of “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”

Gallery

10 Jun 2010

Rīga boys choir sings for the Obamas

The Rīga Dom Boys Choir, under the direction of Mārtiņš Klišāns, performed June 6 in the White House before U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

The choir performed five songs. The White House performance was part of a brief tour that took the choir also to New York and Philadelphia.

Gallery

04 May 2010

Latvia marks 20th anniversary of renewed independence

Twenty years ago Latvia’s Supreme Council took the bold step of voting to break away from the Soviet Union. Although full freedom was not restored until August 1991, the May 4, 1990, decision was a milestone. Two decades on, the anniversary was marked around Latvia with ceremonies. In Rīga, a large crowd gathered May 4 under overcast and chilly skies to listen to a speech by President Valdis Zatlers, to hear patriotic songs by local choirs, and to lay flowers at the base of the Freedom Monument. Other activities were held throughout the day in locations around the capital city. (Photos by Arnis Gross)

Gallery

16 Mar 2010

Amid protest, hundreds in Rīga commemorate Latvian Legion

An estimated 500 to 1,000 persons in downtown Rīga took part in a controversial March 16 commemoration of the Latvian Legion, the two divisions organized by the German military during World War II. The event included a march to the Freedom Monument to honor soldiers who fell while fighting against the Soviet Union. The marchers were countered by protesters who carried signs and shouted slogans against the commemoration, which they argue glorified fascism and the Latvian Legion’s ties to Nazi Germany.

Video

17 Nov 2009

Valsts prezidenta apsveikums tautiešiem ārzemēs

Sagaidot Latvijas Republikas 91. gadadienu, Valsts prezidents Valdis Zatlers savā apsveikumā tautiešiem ārzemēs atgādina, ka “latvietis ir latvietis vienmēr, lai kur arī dzīvotu, lai arī par ko strādātu, lai arī kādas domas domātu savā ikdienas dzīvē”.

Gallery

23 Aug 2009

200 demonstrators join Washington re-enactment of Baltic Way

About 200 people in Washington, D.C., participated in an Aug. 23 re-enactment of the historic 1989 Baltic Way demonstration in which an estimated 2 million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians formed a human chain to protest on the 50th anniversary of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, according to a press release from the American Latvian Association. The treaty, between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, led to the occupation of the Baltic republics. The occupation ended in 1991 with the break-up of the Soviet Union. The Washington re-enactment, organized by Baltic groups in the United States to mark the 70th anniversary of the pact and the 20th anniversary of the Baltic Way, saw participants line up in a human chain along Massachusetts Avenue from the Latvian embassy to the Estonian embassy. They also assembled in front of the Georgian embassy in a show of support for that country’s dispute with Russia. (Photos by Raits Eglītis, American Latvian Association)

Gallery

05 Jul 2009

Writers’ program, dance spectacle close out Hamilton festival

An ecumenical church service attended by an estimated 500-600 people, a program featuring both old and new writers and the traditional folk dance spectacle closed out the 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada, which ended July 5 in Hamilton. Some 500 dancers from 26 different ensembles participated in the spectacle, held in Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum.

Gallery

04 Jul 2009

Choirs take center stage on festival’s fourth day

Hundreds of singers squeezed onto the stage of Hamilton Place for the massed choir concert July 4, the fourth day of the 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada. Other events during the day included a repeat performance of “Mazā zaļā varde jūrā,” a play starring pupils from the Toronto Latvian Society Saturday School; continuation of the exhibit of Latvian work in the Art Gallery of Hamilton; and balls for children and adults in the evening.

Gallery

04 Jul 2009

New choreography, Čikāgas Piecīši among highlights

The new choreography show and a packed concert by Čikāgas Piecīši were among the highlights of the third day of the 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada. Other events included an afternoon program for learning new dances and games, a second showing of the musical “Meldermeitiņa” and a concert of classical music. The approach of the weekend appeared to draw more festival-goers. The marketplace in the Sheraton Hotel Hamilton was slow in the morning, but by midday was buzzing with people.

Gallery

02 Jul 2009

From opening concert to ‘Meldermeitiņa’

The second day of the 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada included a number of events, from the opening concert, to art exhibits, to a sacred music concert, to a social evening by the harbor, to the debut of the musical “Meldermeitiņa.” In between festival-goers took in the marketplace in the Sheraton Hamilton Hotel or spent time catching up with old friends.

Gallery

01 Jul 2009

‘Saules svētki’ kicks off Hamilton festival

The 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada, set this year in Hamilton, Ont., began July 1 with “Saules svētki” (The Sun Festival) at Camp Sidrabene. Despite intermittent rain, the day full of arts and crafts, food, activities and short concerts provided visitors with plenty of entertainment.

Gallery

25 Jun 2009

Jāņi at the West Coast center

Among locations Latvians abroad celebrated the Midsummer festival of Jāņi was the West Coast Latvian Education Center (Rietumu krasta latviešu izglītības centrs) in Shelton, Wash. As in many diaspora communities, because of work schedules the celebration was over the June 20-21 weekend, four days earlier than the official holiday in Latvia. Among highlights of the Washington festivities were performances by the folklore ensemble Gaigalava from Latvia and the Trejdeksnītis folk dance ensemble from Seattle. (Photos by Ivars Ikstrums)

Video

13 Jan 2009

Thousands demand Saeima’s dissolution in Rīga protest

Demonstrators sing the Latvian national anthem at the close of a Jan. 13 protest meeting in Rīga’s Dome Square.

Video

16 Nov 2008

Intervija: Krišjānis Kariņš par 18. novembri

Krišjānis Kariņš dzimis ASV. Latvijā dzīvo kopš 1997. gada. Vinš ir partijas “Jaunais laiks” deputāts Saeimā.

Video

15 Nov 2008

Intervija: Līga Kilman par 18. novembri

Līga Kilman dzimusi Rīgā, bet trimdas gadus pavadija ASV. Pirms 6 gadiem atgriezās dzimtenē.

Video

15 Nov 2008

Intervija: Matīss Kukainis par 18. novembri

Matīss Kukainis dzimis Detroitā. Jau divus gadus dzīvo Rīgā, kur pašam savs advokatu birojs.

Video

15 Nov 2008

Intervija: Aija Ebden par 18. novembri

Aija Ebden dzimusi Rīgā, no trimdas Vācijā dzimtenē atgriezusies 2003. gadā.

Video

14 Nov 2008

Intervija: Pēteris Medenis par 18. novembri

Pēteris Medenis dzimis Latvijā, pec II. pasaules kara emigrējis uz Austrāliju, tagad atgriezies dzimtenē.

Video

14 Nov 2008

Intervija: Dīna Šillere par 18. novembri

Dīna Šillere dzimusi Čikāgā, tagad ir LR Valsts kases Personāla departamenta direktore.

Video

14 Nov 2008

Intervija: Uldis Brūns par 18. novembri

Uldis Brūns, dzimis Austrālijā, strādā tulkošanas un rediģēšanas jomā.