Inside a Traditional Latvian Summer Solstice Celebration

Most Latvians celebrate Midsummer’s Eve, known as Jāņi or Līgo svētki, on the national holidays of June 23 and 24. But for those following ancient pagan traditions, the real summer solstice celebration begins a few days earlier, when the shortest night of the year arrives between June 20 and 22.

The summer solstice marks the height of nature’s energy and has been celebrated in the territory of Latvia for centuries. It is the oldest living Latvian tradition and the only festivity included in the Latvian Culture Canon. Fire rituals, folk songs, dances, and other traditional customs draw an increasing number of people each year.

Let us take you to one such traditional solstice celebration.

Preparation

Hours before sunset, everyone is busy preparing for the celebration. In the kitchen, the hostess, Jāņa māte, together with their family and closest friends, prepares bacon buns, fresh bread, sweet pies, and countless other treats, along with homemade drinks and homegrown berries, for the long night ahead.

Nearby, women and girls gather wildflowers and ferns from fields and meadows to decorate the ritual grounds and sauna. It is also important to collect trejdeviņas zālītes—27 different plants—tie them together with red woolen thread and wear them around the waist throughout the night to protect against evil. All herbs are believed to possess extraordinary healing powers during the summer solstice, and plants such as common yarrow, peppermint, and St. John’s wort are gathered for herbal teas.

In the afternoon, the women sit together, singing songs and weaving wreaths. Daisies, red clover, buttercups, and hedge bedstraw are among the favorites. Some also add fragrant peonies, jasmine, or whatever else the season has offered—the richer and more colorful the wreath, the more fortunate the year ahead. Oak leaves are braided into sturdy crowns for husbands, sons, partners, and friends.

Meanwhile, the men, including the host, Jāņa tēvs, are busy elsewhere. They gather logs and firewood in the forest for the two bonfires that will become the heart of the celebration. One will be used for the fire ritual, while the other, the Jāņuguns or pūdelis, is placed on higher ground, visible from afar. It will burn throughout the night, carrying the light until the first rays of sunrise.

The men also use freshly cut birch branches to weave three gates — one marking the entrance to the celebration grounds, another facing the sunset, and a third facing the sunrise. Larger branches are transformed into torches using burlap and melted candle wax.

Celebration

Latvian midsummer celebrations center around honoring the sun and celebrating fertility, abundance, and nature’s energy. As hosts and guests enter the celebration grounds through the decorated gates, they wash their faces with spring water and gather in a circle around the bonfire.

The largest oak and linden trees nearby, which are masculine and feminine symbols in Latvian mythology, are also honored. Decorated and celebrated in song, they are believed to bring well-being to all the women and men taking part in the celebration.

Soon after comes one of the most anticipated moments of the evening. Men perform a torch dance before lighting the pūdelis just before the sun dips under the horizon. From then on, the night is filled with different activities to keep sleep at bay and make use of the solstice’s powerful and cleansing energy. Fresh round cheese with caraway seeds (Jāņu siers), symbolizing the creation of the world, is prepared. People jump over the ritual bonfire, sing and dance, and participate in sauna rituals.

As the sky gets lighter again and dawn approaches, the celebration enters its final phase. Women, dressed in white linen shirts or dresses after the sauna, walk through the dew-covered grass, collecting droplets in linen towels later used in healing practices. Young girls try their luck by throwing their wreaths into the branches of an oak tree. According to tradition, the number of attempts needed for the wreath to catch symbolizes the years until they meet their future partner or get married.

Then, those who have stayed awake gather to greet the rising sun, singing folk songs and waiting for the first rays of light to hit their faces. The shortest night of the year comes to an end, but its light and energy remain long after the celebration is over. A new cycle begins.