Baltics celebrate midsummer

  • 2011-06-23
  • TBT Staff

RIGA -- A happy Midsummer Night to all our readers!

The streets of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius will be eerily deserted over the next few days as people throughout the region retreat to the countryside for the night-long festival.

The holiday is the largest annual celebration in all three Baltic states. Traditions include building a bonfire, dancing and singing traditional songs until dawn. Revelers build crowns of leaves as flowers to wear through the night.

The holiday dates to pre-Christian times, but was renamed "St. John's Day" after the arrival of Christianity in the 13th century.

The holiday is always held on the night of June 23 and is meant to mark the longest day of the year -- when the sun only sets for a few hours and the night never gets much darker than twilight.

Traditional foods include cheese, beer and grilled meats.

The holiday is known as Jaanipäev in Estonia, Jāņi in Latvia and Joninės in Lithuania.