Other events in Baltic States

Latvia's ex-president Vaira Vike-Freiberga has agreed to become the patroness of the Latvian song festival held in the German city of Esslingen in June this year, Ilze Timbare, a representative of the organizer of the event, reported LETA.

The festival will be organized to remember the Latvian song festival that was held in Esslingen in 1947 and was one of the most important post-war cultural events for the Latvian diaspora. This year's song festival will mark the 70th anniversary of the first song festival in Esslingen and start celebrations of the Latvian upcoming Centenary.

Latvian Culture Minister Dace Melbarde, and author of Latvian musical Eslingena, Lolita Ritmane, who is living in the US and is the only Latvian who has received the prestigious Emmy award, will participate in the event.

So far applications for participation in the song festival have been submited by several hundreds of participants from 23 choirs and ten European countries, including Latvia.

"Esslingen is one of the few German cities that survived World War II intact. Latvians gathered in Esslingen 70 years ago and again we call on everybody to meet on June 15-18 to revive the historic events of Esslingen, sing and dance in the city's streets, parks, yards and concert halls," said Laura Putane, chief organizer of the festival.