While living in Chicago I always looked forward to December and
the various Christmas tirdziņi that
would take place on the weekends. Each of the churches would have a Christmas bazaar
one December weekend, and the Latvian School would host theirs on the third
Saturday. Although these markets are the perfect place to pick up beautiful
handmade gifts, there’s always the lure of tortes
and pīrāgi for those already finished
with their holiday shopping!
I wish we lived in one of the big Latvian centers because I miss
these annual social events. However, all of you readers still have the
opportunity to shop (and eat) your way through more than a dozen tirdziņi across the US and Canada!
(ok, there are a few in Australia and Europe mixed in too…)
Australia
(Adelaide): The Latvian Daugavas Vanagi holiday market is today at 1pm (source)
CA (San
Francisco): 10am-4pm Baltic Christmas Fair at the Latvian House (source)
CO (Lakewood):
9am-1:30pm Colorado Latvians Christmas bazaar (source)
FL (St. Petersburg): 1pm The Florida Latvian
Soviety’s Christmas bazaar (source)
IL (Wood
Dale): 9am-5pm The St. Peter's Latvian Lutheran Church bazaar
MI (Kalamazoo): 10am-2pm Kalamazoo Latvian Association European Christmas Bazaar (source)
MN (Minneapolis): 11am-3pm Latvian Ev. Luth. Church Christmas Bazaar (source)
MN (Minneapolis): 11am-3pm Latvian Ev. Luth. Church Christmas Bazaar (source)
NY (NYC):
2pm NY Estonian House annual Jõululaat (source)
PA
(Quakertown): Bucks County Latvian Baptist Church Kringle Christmas Shoppe (source)
Sunday, December 6th
BC Canada, Vancouver: 12pm Jõululaat, the Vancouver Estonian Society Christmas Bazaar (source)
CA (Los Angeles): The South-California Latvian Society hosts the Christmas bazaar in the Latvian House (source)
CA (Los Angeles): The South-California Latvian Society hosts the Christmas bazaar in the Latvian House (source)
CO (Lakewood):
11am-1:30pm Colorado Latvians Christmas bazaar (source)
IL
(Chicago): 9am The Latvian Daugavas Vanagi
Christmas bazaar (source)
IL (Wood
Dale): 11am-1pm The St. Peter’s Latvian Lutheran Church bazaar
MA (Brookline):
12-3pm The Boston Latvian Church Christmas Bazaar (source)
MD
(Rockville): 12pm-2pm Washington DC Latvian Lutheran Church annual Christmas
Bazaar (source)
NY (Melville):
10:30am The NY Latvian Ev. Lutheran congregation’s annual Christmas bazaar at
the Salas Church (source)
OH (Lakewood):
9-11am Hosted by the Cleveland Womens Auxiliary, located at 1385 Andrews Ave.
Saturday, December 12th
Sunday, December 13th
Saturday, December 19th
IL (Chicago):
The Latvian School of Chicago’s annual Christmas bazaar
IN (Indianapolis):
The Latvian Community Center annual bake sale (source)
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You might have noticed this list is heavy on the Latvian markets,
and possibly you can guess why this is… I hope you will chime in with any
Baltic bazaars being held in your neck of the woods that I have missed – I will
add them as I get them and I thank you in advance for your help! Of course please check original sources for more information/cancellations; I have tried to be accurate but errors do occur, especially with my three assistants buzzing in the background.
Please, shop local and shop thoughtful this holiday season.
Supporting the local tirdziņi is a
great way to support the local craftspeople who are making traditional Baltic
jewelry, textile goods and other handmade products, and not only do you get
presents out of the deal, you also get fresh piparkūkas, oftentimes a warm lunch, and the company of other
Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians in this very merry holiday season! Cheerful
shopping, and welcome back tomorrow on day six of 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas
for some delicious Lithuanian Christmas cookies…
Impressive list! And I cannot even imagine growing up in a city where there was more than 1 Latvian bazaar!! Am definitely looking forward to ours in the Washington area tomorrow. :)
ReplyDeleteNot just more than one, but one every weekend in Chicago! I often wished they would all unite for a super-tirdziņš like the one in Seattle in November (all three Baltic countries represented along with all the various draudzes/skolas etc), but who am I kidding - it just stretches out pīrāgi and piparkūkas over three weekends!
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