Dear friends,
Honourable Minister of Culture,
Dear festival organisers, chief conductors, supporters and all those who have worked for five years so that today, in a few hours, our singing and dancing festival will culminate in one beautiful miracle!
I would like to say a big thank you to all of you for what you have done and are doing, first of all, to strengthen and promote our Latvian identity. Secondly, to keep the tradition of the Song and Dance Festival not only alive, but also very strong.
These last five years have been among the most challenging (at least for our generation, certainly). The Covid-19 pandemic, the war and all sorts of problems have created more challenges than we would all like. In spite of that - and largely by doing your best to keep our tradition as strong as ever – you have created one of the most beautiful weeks.
I know that tomorrow you will start preparing for the next Song and Dance Festival. Tomorrow you will start thinking about what could be done better and more beautifully. But this week that we have all experienced here in Riga, and the fact that every concert on social media – which is usually extremely critical – causes a huge storm of excitement, is a huge credit to you! So, on behalf of our entire country, thank you very much!
