Three for the Weekend in Latvia: Movies, Forests, Ancestors

Take note – story published 3 years ago

Our regular trio of suggestions if you are looking for something to do this weekend. Whatever you do and wherever you go, please observe all the anti-COVID precautions.

1. Rīga International Film Festival

Enjoyable though it is to sit in a darkened movie theater with someone checking their cellphone in front of you, children chomping on toffee popcorn behind you and couples making out on either side of you, there is no need to leave the comfort and security of your own home to enjoy some cutting edge films. The Rīga International Film Festival is under way and numerous flicks can be watched online via the official website.

2. The Great Outdoors

River Aiviekste
River Aiviekste

If you read our forestry feature earlier this week you will know that there are more than 3 million hectares of forest in Latvia. We won't expect you to visit all of them in a single weekend, but state forestry business Latvijas Valsts Meži has a wide range of destinations listed on its mammadaba.lv site. From bog walks to lakeside rambles, there's lots to see and it might be one of your last chances to catch some Autumnal glory.

3. Honoring the Ancestors

An open-air museum has obvious attractions during a time of pandemic - something that our ancestors certainly had to contend with on an even more regular basis than ourselves. So what better activity than getting in touch with our forefathers (and foremothers) at a Sunday night session at the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum on the outskirts of Rīga?   

At the museum's Vidzeme farmstead from 18:00 until 21:00 there will be songs and stories together with folklore groups, as well as other activities and traditional food. In the traditions of the Latvian people, the mention and veneration of ancestors or previous generations is especially important and according to tradition autumn evenings are when we move closest to those who trod the earth before us. Halloween is rather hollow in comparison.

Entrance to the event is from the museum main entrance - Brīvdabas Street 21. Entrance fee to the event - 0.70 €

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