Latvia

Līgo and Jāņi ( Midsummer Day) Jāņi is a Latvian festival held in the night from 23 June to 24 June to celebrate the summer solstice (Midsummer), the shortest night and longest day of the year. Ligo Eve is followed by the Jani Festival. This 3-day celebration of the summer solstice is the biggest and most beloved holiday in Latvia It is the one night of the year that you must never sleep.

This is the biggest traditional Latvian festival, having a deep symbolic meaning for Latvians and known in other countries, too. The traditions and festivals of ancient Latvians were all related to the rhythms of nature and the placement of Sun in the sky.

The day of Līgo (23 June) and the day of Jāņi (24 June) are public holidays, and people usually spend them in the countryside.

Jāņi is an ancient festival originally celebrated in honour a Latvian pagan deity Jānis (also spelt Yahnis), referred to as a "Son of God" in some ancient Latvian folksongs. Jānis is also traditionally the most common of Latvian male given names, corresponding to English name John.

Everybody of the name Jānis holds a special status on this day (Jāņi is a plural form of Jānis).

Jāņi is thought to be the time when the forces of nature are the most powerful, and the boundaries between the physical and spiritual worlds are thinnest. In the past, evil witches were believed to be riding around, so people decorated their houses and lands with rowan branches and thorns in order to protect themselves from evil.

Other traditional decorations are birch or sometimes oak branches and flowers as well as leaves, especially ferns. In rural areas livestock is also decorated. People wear wreaths made from flowers for females, or oak leaves for males.

Jāņi also is thought to be the perfect time to gather herbs, because it is believed that they then have magical powers.

A well-known part of this celebration is searching for the mythical fern flower, though some suggest that the fern flower is a symbol of secret knowledge, fertility. In fact, ferns are not flowering plants. Other practices of magic in Jāņi vary from fortune-telling to ensuring productivity of crops, as well as livestock fertility.

Jāņu fire Another important detail is fire: A festival fire must be kept from sunset till sunrise, and various kinds of flaming light sources are used. Usually these are bonfires, which traditionally people jump over to ensure prosperity and fertility.

Traditional food Traditional food during Jāņi is a special type of cheese with caraway seeds, made out of curd, and the traditional drink is beer. Many people make the cheese of Jāņi themselves; a few also make their own beer.

Traditional songs Jāņi is one of the most cheerful festival, so it can’t be held without singing. There are more than 1000 different Latvian folk songs for Jāņi. Almost all of them are only four lines and about nature and Jānis. “Jānīts nāca pa gadskārtu, līgo, līgo. Savus bērnus apraudzīti, līgo. Vai tie ēda, vai tie dzēra, līgo, līgo. Vai Jānīti daudzināja, līgo.”

What are people doing in Latvia at Midsummer Day? Eating fresh caraway cheese, drinking beer, singing hundreds of Latvian folk songs dedicated to Jāņi, dancing, burning bonfire to keep light all through the night and jumping over it, wearing wreaths of flowers and oak-leaves.