Nearly 22,000 more seats to events will become available when the second round of ticket sales for the 2008 Latvian Song and Dance Festival in Rīga begins June 7, organizers have announced.

The additional tickets—a total of 21,918—are becoming available through a combination of rearranging and adding seating for some concerts and performances, as well as turning two dress rehearsals into public concerts.

Organizers were criticized after tickets for many popular events during the July 5-12 celebration sold out in just hours after going on sale in March. Rumors surfaced of blocks of tickets being snatched up by scalpers who supposedly used Internet sales to their advantage. Minister of Culture Helēna Demakova demanded song festival organizers figure out how to make more tickets available.

“We have tried to do everything possible to make the Song and Dance Festival more accessible,” Romāns Vanags, head of the Song and Dance Celebration Office in Rīga, said in a June 4 press release.

Tickets will go on sale at 11:00 hours EEST June 7 at Biļešu paradīze offices around Latvia. An extra 500 tickets are designated for sale in Liepāja, where problems were encountered during the first round of sales.

Internet sales through www.bilesuparadize.lv are scheduled to start at noon EEST June 7, organizers said.

Ticket sales will be limited, organizers added. No more than four tickets to one concert may purchased at one time, while Internet sales will be limited to eight tickets at one time. No telephone reservations will be accepted.

Additional tickets include 5,858 to the July 6 opening concert in the Mežaparks open-air theater in Rīga; 1,134 to “Deju svētkiem – 60” July 6 in Arēna Rīga; 5,123 to the July 10 and 11 grand folk dance performances, and 4,147 for the July 12 closing concert.

Tickets also will go on sale to the July 5 dress rehearsals for the opening concert and for “Deju svētkiem – 60.” Participants in the festival will have the first opportunity to buy these tickets, and those that are not sold will be offered to the general public.

Program details for the song and dance festival are available by visiting www.dziesmusvetki2008.lv.

A Latvian-American has lost a bid to be elected a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, according to results of the June 3 California primary election. Eduard R. Abele, a deputy district attorney for the county since 1987, came in third.

Abele ran against criminal prosecutor Michael J. O’Gara and criminal attorney C. Edward Mack.

Abele received 117,799 votes, or 25.87 percent of ballots. O’Gara got 40 percent and Mack earned 34.13 percent, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office. Because no candidate received a majority of the total votes cast, O’Gara and Mack will face off in the general election in November.

Abele has successfully prosecuted more than 90 criminal cases, according to his campaign Web site. He had endorsements from a number of officials and organizations, including Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley.

Another Latvian-American judge, Dzintra Janavs, would have been up for re-election if she had not decided to retire. Janavs, who spent more than 20 years on the bench, in June 2006 failed to be re-elected to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. She lost to Lynn Diane Olson, a result several observers saw as unfortunate, including the Los Angeles Times, which had endorsed the Republican judge. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October 2006 then appointed Janavs to an empty seat on the Superior Court. Janavs would have had to run for re-election again if she wanted to keep the new post.

Ernest Gulbis, the first tennis player from Latvia to make it into the quarterfinals of the French Open, lost June 3 in three sets 5-7, 6-7 and 7-5 to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in Paris.

The 19-year-old Gulbis was the master of speed, according to match statistics reported on the official Web site of the French Open. His fastest serve was 218 kmh, compared to 208 kmh for Djokovic. Gulbis also recorded higher average speeds for his first and second serves.

But Djokovic, a longtime friend of Gulbis’ and the No. 3 singles player, nonetheless proved more patient. He recorded only one double fault, compared to seven for Gulbis. And the Latvian had 60 unforced errors, while Djokovic had 36.

The game lasted 3 hours and 7 minutes in less than ideal conditions, according to media reports. Play was hampered by wind and rain.

For Gulbis, the French Open is over. Djokovic heads to the semifinals.