Ligo and Jani Midsummer

Ligo and Jani mark the midsummer solstice, and it is the great festival of the Latvian year. People leave the cities for the countryside, light bonfires that must burn until sunrise, wear wreaths of oak leaves and flowers, eat caraway cheese and drink beer, and sing the short refrain ligo late into the shortest night.

History

The midsummer fires are old: in 1584 the chronicler Balthasar Russow described dancing, singing and jumping around the Jāņi fires all over Livonia, and Riga's fishermen and ferrymen used to row to the islands of the Daugava after the solstice to burn bonfires with their families until dawn. In 1832 a Latvian weekly described the great flower and herb market that opened on the Daugava bank on the eve of the holiday. The word Līgosvētki, for the whole festival, was coined in 1900 by Emilis Melngailis in his collection of Jāņi songs - he later regretted it, saying it had pushed aside the real old names, and linguists still argue over līgo, which is a refrain rather than a noun. After independence in 1918 the festival became a popular national holiday (Wikipedia, Jāņi).

What you'll find

• Bonfires - fires lit on high ground and kept burning until dawn.
• Wreaths - oak-leaf crowns for the men named Janis, flower wreaths for the women.
• Jani cheese and beer - the caraway cheese and beer that belong to the night.
• Singing and staying awake - the tradition of seeing the sun rise together.

When to go

The nights of 23 to 24 June, and nowhere better than out in the countryside where the fires and songs belong. Many Latvians spend it with family, so a rural guesthouse or an organised event is the way in for visitors.

Practical notes

This is a family and countryside celebration more than a public spectacle, so the cities can feel empty rather than festive on the night. To experience it properly you need to be somewhere rural, ideally invited or booked in. The next morning much of the country is asleep or on holiday.

Nearby

Any rural region does it well; the manor houses and open-air museum around Riga host organised events for visitors.