The book, titled Kopā kapos (Together at the Cemetery), features more than 60 black-and-white photos from the celebrations, reported Latvian Radio's Māra Rozenberga Wednesday.
The photos are supplemented with Latvian-language essays on the festivals, which take place on several summer weekends, mostly in the Vidzeme and Latgale regions.
Read more about the tradition HERE.
Photographer Mārtiņš Grauds took the pictures over the course of several summers when he attended about 40 cemetery festivals in Latgale and northern Vidzeme, where the tradition is observed in a most flamboyant manner.
Even though Grauds finished documenting the festivals several years ago, he still sounds cordial when speaking about the men and women in his photos.
"It's clear that if the tradition has survived for several hundred years, there'll be cemetery festivals in the future!
As long as we still exist, as long as we're able to walk, we'll go to the cemeteries and visit our relatives. I'm optimistic over the future of the tradition," he said.
The book will be presented Thursday by the Neputns publishing house.
