Baltic Christmas Day 21 - Pīrāgi, Piparkūkas and Wine in Seattle

Happy winter solstice!!! Today on the shortest day of the year we welcome two-time contributor to the series, Zinta! A recent transplant to the Seattle area, Zinta brings a fresh look at the Latvian scene there, as well as a fresh set of legs to the folk-dancing troop Trejdeksnītis. Meet some of the vendors at the annual Seattle Latvian Christmas Bazaar as you tour the tirdziņš with our WA correspondent to 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas!

Annual Christmas bazaars in Latvian communities are a typical sight for many cities across North America. Join us as we peek in for a glance of Seattle’s bazaar, which happened this year on the 11th and 12th of November.

  

The Seattle Christmas bazaar is a one-stop shop for all your holiday shopping! Homemade pīragi, tortes, and apple pastries were sold out by the end of each day. All sorts of jewelry, ceramics, books, and knitted scarves & hats were available. The local Latvian folk dance group – Trejdeksnītis – performed on Saturday, partly in preparation for their trip to next summer’s Folk Song and Dance Festival in Latvia. Also exclusive to Seattle’s bazaar was wine tasting in the lower level of the community center, hosted by the Latvian-owned Abbe Vineyard. And when one got exhausted from all the shopping and socializing, traditional Latvian dishes like sausage and sauerkraut were served up in the kitchen.

Vendors interviewed include Alfreds Stinkuls, Trejdeksnītis, and Abbe Vineyard.

Paldies Zinta! It’s nice to see you surrounded with quite a few familiar faces (sveiks krustdēl and tante Zinta!) and good luck with your tautasdeju career!!

This isn't our first trip to Seattle via 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas; for more on the Christmas bazaar visit Day 3 from last year's series. With the tirdziņš taking place in November (and before 24 Days gears up for the season), I think it is lovely to revisit for the charming holiday atmosphere in these last days before Christmas!

Tomorrow on Day 22 of 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas we are joined by the organizers of next year’s Folk Song and Dance Festival in Toronto for a look at what they have in store for guests…