Latvia: Latvian nation was born singing 150 years ago: Pres. Levits

The Latvian nation was born 150 years ago during the Latvian Song Festival, President Egils Levits said at the opening ceremony of the Latvian Song and Dance Festival procession on 2 July 2023, LETA reported. People from Latvia’s Kurzeme, Vidzeme, and Zemgale regions united into a single Latvian nation at the first Song Festival in 1873, and were joined by Latgalians a little later, Levits said. “Can there be a finer way for a nation to be born than by singing,” he asked, adding that the Song and Dance Festival demonstrates Latvia’s diversity. This year’s Song and Dance Festival parade in Riga involves nearly 45,000 people from more than 1,800 groups.