International Folklore Festival Baltica ‘88: the Return of Latvian Folk Music from Exile
International Folklore Festival Baltica ‘88: the Return of Latvian Folk Music from Exile

Summary/Abstract: Since 1987, the International Folklore Festival Baltica has united the three Baltic States – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia – and has been studied in the context of 20th-century Baltic folklore and national awakening under Soviet occupation (Bendorfs 2021; Bertran 2023; Šmidchens 1996, 2014). This article continues previous research by focusing on the festival’s importance for Western Latvian exile folklore ensembles. In 1988, Baltica offered exiled Latvians the first opportunity to perform in Soviet Latvia. This study examines the participation of Latvian exile folklore ensembles in the Baltica festival before Latvia regained independence, analyzing period press and participant memories, with emphasis on the folklore ensembles that took part in the 1988 festival – Kolibri (USA) and Vilcējas (Sweden). The period reveals how Latvian exile communities, formed after the Second World War, maintained and re-established contact with occupied Latvia, influencing folklore revival on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

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