The Latvian Song and Dance Festival ( lv, Vispārējie latviešu Dziesmu un Deju svētki) is one of the largest amateur choral and dancing events in the world and an important event in Latvian culture and social life. As one of the Baltic song festivals, it is also a part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and t ...

list since 2008. The ''All-Latvian Song Festival'' has been held since 1873, normally every five years, with the Latvian Dance Festival component added in 1948. During the festivals exhibitions of photography, art and folk craft, orchestra concerts, and a festive

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

also take place. Events and competitions leading up to the event occur throughout the period between festivals. Additional festivals were held in 2001 and 2011, both on major anniversaries of the founding of

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

. Approximately 40,000 performers altogether participate in the event. Folk songs and classical choir songs are sung, with emphasis on

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

singing, though modern popular songs have recently been incorporated into the repertoire as well. Since 1960, a distinct has been held in an alternate five-year cycle, on a matching scale.

History

The tradition of song festivals originated in the first half of the 19th century in many European countries and later was also organized by the

Baltic Germans Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declin ...

. The first steps taken in the Latvian environment was during the Song days in Dikļi in 1864, which led to the resounding of a full-scale song festival in

during the summer of 1873. 1,003 singers and 30 orchestra players participated in the first festival. Only once has the festival been held outside Riga, in

Jelgava Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Du ...

in 1895.

Dziesmu un deju svētku pasākumi 2018 (43264700262)

After the

Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed in ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, festivals were continued in the Latvian SSR, heavily influenced by

Soviet ideology The ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was Bolshevist Marxism–Leninism, an ideology of a centralised command economy with a vanguardist one-party state to realise the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Soviet Union' ...

and used to praise the occupation regime, with the festival being held every 5 years on important anniversaries of the nation's forced accession as a Union Republic, while the festival was held in 1973 to mark its centennial anniversary and in 1977 to mark the diamond jubilee of the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, both events connected to the centennial commemorations of

The First Latvian National Awakening The First Latvian National Awakening or the First Awakening ( lv, Pirmā Atmoda) was a cultural and national revival movement between 1850 and 1880 among the Young Latvians, a group of well-educated Latvians, who, opposed to the Baltic German dom ...

. During the occupation the festival tradition was continued in exile, first in

displaced persons camps Displaced may refer to: * Forced displacement, the involuntary movement of people from their home * Displaced (2006 film), ''Displaced'' (2006 film), a 2006 British feature film produced by Skylandian Pictures * Displaced (2010 film), ''Displaced ...

after

, primarily in the western zones in Germany, then in the United States, Canada, and Australia, with many of the legendary conductors of the past taking part during those years alongside the later generations of conductors they trained. The Overseas Song and Dance Festival is currently held every four years, alternating between the United States and Canada. The 1985 edition would be notable for the grand finale concert in which the legendary hymn conducted by , who was hated by the pro-Soviet government and was not listed as one of the performing conductors in that concert, was sung at the behest of the participating choristers. The song, which speaks about the rebirth of a free Latvian nation, was and is usually a staple of the festival's song list and was not performed thrice in its history (1960, 1965 and 1977), and had been performed in the 1980 edition in the presence of Annija Vītola, widow of the song's composer

Jāzeps Vītols Jāzeps Vītols (german: Joseph Wihtol; 26 July 1863 – 24 April 1948) was a Latvian composer, pedagogue and music critic. He is considered one of the fathers of Latvian classical music. Biography Vītols, born in Valmiera the son of a sc ...

, marking 80 years since it was first performed. The 24th Festival was held in July 2008. The main events were held at the

Mežaparks Great Bandstand The Mežaparks Great Bandstand (), also called the Song Festival Bandstand, Open-Air Stage (), is a large open-air bandstand in Mežaparks park in the Mežaparks neighbourhood of Riga, the capital of Latvia. The bandstand has added cultural ...

and the Daugava Stadium in Riga. The 25th Festival took place in July 2013. 81,309 of the 95,250 available tickets for the 26th Festival's various events were sold on the first day. The festival took place from 1–8 July 2018, marking the 100th anniversary of Latvian independence, encompassing 65 events with a total of 500,000 expected visitors. The closing concert, in which a choir of 16,000 singers and other participants performed, and the subsequent

sing-along Sing-along, also called community singing or group singing, is an event of singing together at gatherings or parties, less formally than choir singing. One can use a songbook. Common genres are folk songs, patriotic songs, kids' songs, spiritual ...

night was attended by more than 67 thousand people, making it the highest attendance to an event in the festival's history. The 27th edition will be held in July 2023, marking the festival's sesquicentennial jubilee anniversary.

References

External links

Latvian Nationwide Song and Dance Celebration

Latvian Song and Dance Festival at the Latvian National Encyclopedia

Latvian Song and Dance Festival repository

Song and Dance Celebration Law
'' likumi.lv''
When Many Become One
{{Authority control Music festivals in Latvia Recurring events established in 1873 Folk festivals in Latvia Music festivals established in 1873 Classical music festivals in Latvia Choral festivals 1873 establishments in the Russian Empire

History

See also

References

External links