Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Baltic Christmas Day 4 - the San Fran Baltic Christmas Fair

On Day 4 of 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas we welcome back Māra Linde. Māra is an active member of the San Francisco Latvian community, and has previously appeared on the series in 2017 when she introduced us to the Latvian Mittens exhibit that was then traveling the US. Today she is sharing the story of how the San Francisco Baltic Christmas Fair came to be, and invites all the 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas readers to this annual event!


In these times when the Baltic communities in the US seem to be shrinking, a few Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians came up with the idea of an event that created a buzz  in our three communities and started a tradition; the annual Baltic Christmas Fair! This year, the Fair will be taking place (for the fifth year!) at the San Francisco Latvian Hall on Saturday, December 7, from 10:00am - 4:00pm.

 
There are no memories of the Estonian and Lithuanian communities having a Christmas Fair in the Bay Area for 20 years. The Latvians had held an annual Ziemassvētku tirdziņš (Christmas Fair) hosted by the Daugavas Vanagi (Northern California Latvian Veterans Organization) Ladies committee since 1970, at which there always was a decorated, 10-12ft live Christmas tree, a plentiful Latvian-style dinner was served, and 6-8 Latvian merchants sold their wares, mainly jewelry. However, the last Ziemassvētku tirdziņš took place in 2010, and after the Daugavas Vanagi organization in San Francisco discontinued their activities, no one took over the hosting of the Christmas fair…
As with all great ideas, the notion of a joint Baltic Christmas market was around for some time. There were various plans developed in the Estonian community, but they didn’t have a venue. Latvians had the Hall but were not sure if there would be enough merchants to fill it. Lithuanians had several small businesses who possibly could be interested. The biggest question was – would there be enough interest in our Baltic community to support such an event?


In April 2014 the first emails between leaders of the three communities started to circulate. During the annual Baltic Picnic in June the matter was discussed, and it was decided to give the idea of the fair a try. The first Fair organizational meeting took place in July of 2014, and what a meeting it was! It is not a secret that in our communities some volunteer jobs are like a hot potato - no one wants to take them. But this meeting was so refreshingly different; we all had great ideas on how to make the event successful!


The organizers all came to the table with concepts to make the Fair flourish, and all of us were willing to put in the extra work to get it done. This surge of energy continued throughout later meetings: “No problem, we can make hot spiced wine,” “we’ll get pine tree branches to decorate the Hall,” and “school kids can make banners!”. We even had 2 volunteers from each Baltic community who arranged tables and decorated the Hall into the late evening the night before the Fair.


On the morning of the first Fair, the organizers were in the Latvian Hall at 7:00am. The pine tree branches and hot spiced wine filled the air with the aroma of Christmas, and the playlist of Christmas music from all three countries got everyone in a holiday mood. Vendors started showing up at 8:30am as expected, and then there was only one worry left – will the customers show?

And then…  people started to come! An hour after opening, our worries had dissipated; the market was a great success! As a bonus, we (the organizers) enjoyed the fair as much as the vendors and customers!!


Over the years we’ve made some changes to the market: we eliminated some activities, we tried new ones. There is always a Santa, hot spiced wine, and a raffle. Each vendor and organization donate a small gift for the raffle, and we have drawings several times a day to announce winners. There is a trivia contest or a scavenger hunt. Each year we have some 17-20 merchants, and around 300-400 visitors stop in. The last two years we have a new, growing group of visitors – our American friends, and neighbors of the Latvian Hall!


Visitors love to come to the fair, have a lunch or dinner of Baltic food, have a cup of karstvīns (if you are Latvian), glogg (if you are Estonian) or hot spiced wine, meet and mingle with friends, and buy presents for Christmas. We have had piparkūkas and piparkūku mikla, grybai and šakotis, verivorst and asinsdesa. We’ve sold homemade beet soup, smoked cheese, meat and chicken, pastēte and galerts. There are several types of Baltic beers available in the bar, amber and silver jewelry, embroidered and hand-woven belts, handmade socks and mittens, music CD’s, pottery and books.... We expect to have most of these items for sale this year as well!



I’m truly grateful for this experience with the wonderful group of pro-active community members! A big part of our success are the schedules, detailed notes from previous meetings, and to-do lists. Every year we provide surveys to vendors and attendees to get feedback, and after each fair, the organizing committee records what went well and what should be changed. We need 5-7 volunteers from each country to work at the market each year, and over the years we have had more than 50 volunteers! We are very grateful to them all, and especially to those who volunteer every year, again and again. We couldn’t have this event without support from our community organizations – the Northern Californian Latvian Association, the San Francisco Lithuanian-American community and San Francisco Eesti by the Bay. We also owe a special debt of gratitude to the Latvian Lutheran Church of Northern California who provides us with the use of Hall at no cost.


I will finish this story with words of encouragement... If your community does not have the resources to organize such a big event, reach out to the other Baltic communities in your city – and magic may happen! 


Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus!
Häid Jõule!
Su Šventom Kalėdom!

Merry Christmas!

Photo credits to Rommi Linnik, Una Veilande, and the San Francisco Lithuanian-American community



Paldies Māra! I know for many the Baltic Christmas markets are a highlight of the holiday season, as they provide the opportunity to not only pick up a few gifts, but to meet friends during this hectic time of year and enjoy a few hours of good food and familiar faces. The 2019 San Francisco Baltic Christmas Fair is taking place THIS SATURDAY, December 7th, from 10am to 4pm at the San Francisco Latvian Hall: 425 Hoffman Ave, San Francisco CA. Tag your photos #24DaysofaBalticChristmas and share your favorite Baltic moments! 

Tomorrow, on Day 5 – the 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas gift guide!


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