The story
Ligo Midsummer Night Celebration Jurmala in Jurmala
Jūrmala hosts one of Latvia's largest celebrations of Līgo and Jāņi, the country's biggest folk holiday, marking the summer solstice across the night of June 23 into the day of June 24. At Melluži stage park and Kauguri beach, bonfires and barefoot dancing on the sand run alongside live concerts blending folk bands with DJs, while traditional oak-leaf and flower wreaths and Jāņu siers caraway cheese anchor the older customs.
No holiday sits closer to the center of Latvian identity than Līgo and Jāņi, the paired names for the country's summer solstice celebration, and Jūrmala, Latvia's premier seaside resort, stages one of the largest versions of it outside the countryside where the holiday's oldest customs originated.