Almost three decades after last hosting one, Milwaukee is organizing the next U.S. Latvian Song and Dance Festival (XIII Vispārējie Latviešu Dziesmu svētki ASV), scheduled July 4-8, 2012.

The nonprofit corporation that will oversee the festival was registered Jan. 23 with the Wisconsin Secretary of State’s Office, public documents show.

A number of preliminary steps have been completed or are underway, Ēriks Krūmiņš, a member of the American Latvian Association board of directors, told Latvians Online in an e-mail.

Some observers in the Latvian diaspora in recent years have expressed doubts about the continued viability of song festivals outside Latvia. Last summer’s festival in Indianapolis ended with a deficit and organizers now are seeking donations to erase it.

Traditionally the location of the next song festival is announced at the conclusion of the last festival. Milwaukee organizers had discussed hosting the festival, but a firm proposal was not available when the Association of Latvian Choirs (Latviešu Koru apvienība) met during the Indianapolis song festival. The association determines the host city. The association decided July 5 that if Milwaukee would not be willing to organize the festival, then another location would have to be found, said Andris Kursietis, chair of the Milwaukee organizing committee.

In the following months, organizers in Minneapolis also proposed that they could host the next festival. Minneapolis has never hosted the song festival, while Milwaukee did so in 1983. Milwaukee also hosted a regional song festival in 1956.

The choir association on Oct. 15 affirmed its decision to make Milwaukee the host city for the next festival.

Three days later, the Milwaukee organizing committee was confirmed, Kursietis said in an e-mail. Besides himself, members include Ernests Brusubārdis III, vice chair and music diretor; Vincents Dindzans, vice chair and information director; and Ildze Rudzīte, folk dance director.

Further details about the Milwaukee festival are expected to be announced soon, Krūmiņš said.

In the meantime, Latvian choirs and folk dancers are preparing for three other festivals coming up this year and next: the Latvian Nationwide Song and Dance Celebration scheduled July 5-12 in Rīga; the West Coast Latvian Song Festival scheduled Aug. 28-Sept. 1 in Ventura, Calif.; and the Latvian Song Festival in Canada planned July 1-5, 2009, in Hamilton, Ontario.

Latvia has recognized the independence of Kosovo, the breakaway region that declared its freedom from Serbia on Feb. 17.

The Latvian announcement on Feb. 20 comes after Foreign Minister Māris Riektiņš first said his country favored a coordinated action by the European Union on the Kosovo question. He traveled to Brussels for a Feb. 18 meeting of the EU’s General Affairs and External Relations Council, which decided that recognition of Kosovo was up to each member country.

Several countries, including Spain, have said they will not recognize Kosovo in part because of concerns over the precedent such action might set for minorities in their territories. Ninety percent of Kosovo’s inhabitants are ethnic Albanians, but the region also holds deep cultural and historic meaning to the Serbs.

Russia, which has longstanding ties to Serbia, also will not recognize the new nation. Russian President Vladimir Putin angered Spanish officials when he compared Kosovo to the issue of separatism in the Basque and Catalan regions.

The Latvian decision, echoing similar EU member announcements, notes that the Kosovo situation is unique and cannot be compared to other conflicts.

Estonia and Lithuania also have said they will recognize Kosovo’s independence.