Question about Jāņi celebration

12 comments

1. The town could be Drusti

2. Generally Jāņi is a family/friends (overall private) affair. At least what I would consider quintessential experience. Not really a thing to join from the side. My best advice for proper experience would be to get a Latvian friend (preferably with an extensive relative network) and ask if you can join there. Sorry if that’s not what you’re looking for.

3. Usually the very tradtional celebration in countryside is with friends and family. If you don’t know anyone it will be really difficult to find anything.
   What I can suggest is to go visit “zaļumballe”, “Līgo zaļumballe” or “Līgošana”, it’s a celebration hosted in all cities and most towns, open for everyone and has live music.

4. You can try to contact the Latvian Embassy in Prague, they usually celebrate Jani as well. I’m not sure if they accept Czechs there as well, but why not?

5. Avoid mentioning that you are Czech to drunk Latvian men. When you are drunk, the only Czech person you know is Antonin Jerabek.

6. Wake up, have 5 beers, at noon have another 5, then you will blend in well

7. In short – want to celebrate as local – drop DM

8. What came to my mind: There are baltic studies, latvian studies department in Prague university, you can ask them all these questions, they should know 🙂

   Some czech friends usually come to Latvia around Jāņi to see places and people, but now in postcovid time all is quieter, more personal and in family.

9. Get drunk, get fak, gg

10. Having an obsession with a country doesn’t sound healthy… I once tried dating an American who was obsessed with ex-Soviet countries and women from them. Needless to say it was creepy af. All I was asked about was “did Soviet Union…”.

11. >reporter firstly went to Riga, to main market for a flower/beech wreath

    pussies. you make your own.
    unless your name is Jānis, then girls make an oak wreath for you.
    or if your name is Honza by any chance, I say you can translate it to Jānis

12. Historically, in Jāņi, neighbors and relatives used to get together, before that of course they organized everything, brewed beer, cooked special cheese with cumin. Houses were decorated with small cut birches, wreaths of flowers were woven for women and wreaths of oak leaves for men. In the countryside, strings of oak leaves and flowers were also wrapped around cattle horns, entrance gates and doors.

    At Midsummer, in the evening at the highest place in the neighborhood, a bonfire or a specially prepared barrel was raised at the end of a pile. There was a competition between the neighbor’s for the brightest and the furthest fire. The tradition comes from ancient times, when bonfires meant that people lived there. They had fun by the bonfires – danced, sang, taught – played musical instruments. It was also a competition – which company will be heard next, as well as the song that answered the neighbors.

    It was a tradition when neighbors went to visit each other and praised the owner or hostess with songs if the neighborhood was not cleaned. They asked for beer and cheese with songs to show respect. Usually the answer was appreciated, but the guests were also honored with songs – about clothes, or something else, so that everyone had fun – they came up with songs right away.

    All talked, joked, sang by the fire. They put the husks in the coals of the fire

    green potatoes, covered with coals and pulled out fried – in a burnt skin.

    Others jumped “over the fire” – actually “jumped over” a small fire in twos – each along its edge, holding hands. The big ones could be jumped around, but no one was allowed to get burned.

    Practical time – Latvians were fun, they liked to have fun and it was the only chance for fun before starting to cut hay, weed gardens and prepare to harvest. At that moment, everything in the gardens was planted, flowers were blooming in the meadows, which meant that the meadow could be mowed. On St. John’s day, they picked herbal teas – flowers before mowing the hay. Practically, the spring work was finished on John’s Day and the summer work had to start.

    The essence of the celebration was to meet, talk, also eat and drink beer. Then uninvited people could also come, arriving with a treat, but everything depended on the people, how communicative they were.

    As a child, I remember how we used to go to my grandparents together – in the still empty hay barn, the whole ground was covered with blankets so that we could sleep, because there was not enough space in the house. The neighbors went to their homes for the night. The largest number that I remember was the family itself – grandparents’ children and grandchildren, about 25 people, distant relatives about 30 people and another 30-60 neighbors (they came and went).

    In time for the event, grandfather brewed 80 liters of beer, grandmother collected milk for two weeks to make cheese (there were 3 cows), potatoes were still from the previous fall, baked buns the day before the holiday, cooked meat. Neighbors brought extra dishes in time so that there were enough glasses, cups and plates for everyone. To make the celebration a success, many people got involved.

    During the holidays, the hosts made sure that all the guests were pleasant and had enough food. Everyone was watching so that there were no marginalized people. The children were in the middle of everything, but did not follow the adults’ footsteps. There was no need to ask anyone to help bring or lift something – everyone got involved on their own. Now it doesn’t happen anymore, because organizing an event is a very serious job that no one wants to take on.

    That’s why most of them now go to parties – concerts in the open air, where you can also buy beer, sing along, dance or just listen – as you like. In fact, the essence of the holiday is to have fun and feel good. I know all this because I had to braid strings of flowers, I know how to make oak wreaths, brew beer, boil cheese and other foods, and I also know how big the piles of washing dishes are. Then I also learned how to quickly peel potatoes – I had to peel a bucket of potatoes for 15 minutes so that everyone could boil them.