Mikeldienas

Day 7 Riga
Although I had better photos of the dancers I used this as it gives an idea of the enthusiasm that the children had.  Several were dancing around and trying to imitate the action of the dancers while others can be seen lying on the produce in front of the stage. The festival in Riga celebrates harvest thanksgiving at the feast of Michaelmas and the vast display of produce is symbolical. During the intervals while new groups of dancers, singers or musicians were assembling the compere (extra) wandered around asking people to guess the weights of the vegetables with winners going home with huge cabbages, bunches of carrots etc. A lady beside us won a huge pumpkin which she could hardly lift and I was hoping he didn't ask us as we had no idea of the Latvia language.  Elsewhere there were innumerable stalls selling fresh vegetables, fruit, cheeses, breads, meats, drinks etc and the most beautiful handcraft. It was quite impressive and I saw so many things that I would have loved to buy.