Salda is played by students at the Folk Music Festival / Article

The “Eži” group of Limbaž children and youth center chapel fills the Oskar Kalpak square in Saldu with jesters’ music, joy and passion. The folk music festival takes place once every five years – the year before the school youth song and dance festival, and this is the third festival. The Limbazhians are one of those who have been there.

“I was attracted to this group by the collective spirit and also by the patriotism for Latvia,” says member of the group Ričards Bezbailis.

“Every Latvian has the feeling inside that it is necessary to show folk values, because both choral music and folk dances are a very, very big folk value. I have always wanted to participate in it since early childhood,” admitted Ventspils Technical School and Ventspils Music High School member of the combined girls’ ensemble Lelde Manteja.

Young people whose native language is not Latvian also sing in several collectives, for example, in the group “Notis” of the voice development studio “Kantilena” of Rīga Bolderājas Junior Primary School.

“There are also Latvians in our team, and together with them we sang Latvian folk songs and Latvian music, music by Latvian composers. The children like it,” added the teacher of the group, Irina Parahņeviča.

Vocal and instrumental ensembles, as well as chapels from all over Latvia, sang Salda with folk songs and their arrangements. If around 250 children and young people took part in the festival, then there are 3,000 people making music in this way in Latvia.

“In preparation for our folk music festival, the traditional annual vocal ensemble competition “Voices” was held this year. The most successful and the best, who have performed the loudest songs and in the best quality, were invited to Salda this time to practice and show their skills,” said XIII Latvian School Youth executive director of the song and dance festival, Agra Bērziņa.

When the day was spent in street music, everyone gathered at the Saldus children and youth center for the big concert “The whole farm is silvered, the gates are made of gold sparkles”. It is already a small modeling event for the folk music concert of the XIII Latvian school youth song and dance festival.

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