In many European countries, the tradition of wearing folk costumes has almost disappeared. In those countries they are revived today through paintings, museum collections and written accounts. In some other European regions this tradition is still alive and people from countryside mostly continue to make costumes and wear them. According to Inara Zlaugotne, in Latvia, costumes are still made but mainly for dance groups or choirs.
There are hundreds of different national costumes in Latvia. Every region has its own, and that one may have slight differences in design.
National costumes are used mainly on four occasions nowadays:
- During the Song Festivals that take place every four years in Riga, when a choir of about 20, 000 singers perform a large programme of songs;
- Some people wear the costume on Midsummer Night (June 23), which is the most popular national holiday in Latvia;
- Folklore groups use them as an attire for their concerts;
- Craftsmen selling their goods at the annual Craftsmen fair in Riga Open-Air museum are usually dressed in national costumes.
I have a national costume for myself, too. I wore it at the graduation ceremony of my 12th year students. I like it very much. It creates a very special feeling, a feeling of belonging to all those generations for whom this attire were everyday clothes.
Photo 1: Pupils of Engure Secondary School, members of folklore group at a folklore festival in Germany: Lîga, Kristaps and Kristîne.
Photo 2: Kristîne in a Latvian national costume in Germany, attending a Folklore festival.
There are hundreds of different national costumes in Latvia. Every region has its own, and that one may have slight differences in design.
I have a national costume for myself, too. I wore it at the graduation ceremony of my 12th year students. I like it very much. It creates a very special feeling, a feeling of belonging to all those generations for whom this attire were everyday clothes.
