Ziemassvētki

Early history and decorated trees

Records from the Blackheads Guild in Riga show that winter tree decorating dates back to at least the late fifteenth century. Early installations were structures of wooden sticks or bouquets adorned with straw figurines, dried blossoms, ribbons and fruit. These displays remained in place throughout the holiday season before being burned in the market square in early January. Sixteenth-century chronicles describe young merchants setting up firs decorated with roses, dancing around them at night with singing companions, and lighting them despite the objections of local church preachers.

Masks and mumming

A central folk practice involves masked visitors, known regionally as budēļi, ķekatas or vecīši, travelling from home to home. These troupes dress up as cranes, bears, farm animals, or even death, intending to banish evil spirits and deliver blessings. The leader carries a special whip of life, touching residents and livestock to impart health and fertility for the coming year. To create masks, people turn fur coats inside out, attach horns and beards beneath sheets, or carve turnip teeth to portray fearsome figures.

Solstice food and ritual

Traditional observances also recall the turning of the sun through the physical dragging of heavy logs, which were later set on fire. The holiday evening was known in some areas as Ķūķu Eve after a hearty boiled porridge made from crushed barley or wheat grains cooked together with half a pig head, peas, and beans. Consuming this rich grain dish was believed to encourage prosperity, strength and household welfare throughout the coldest stretch of the agricultural year.

Contemporary home celebrations

Modern celebrations center around decorated fir trees, which are adorned with straw ornaments, bentgrass, eggshells, bird feathers, berries and fruit. Families gather as gifts are distributed beneath the spruce boughs, often requiring children to recite a poem or sing a verse before claiming a package. Scented mandarins and baked gingerbread biscuits, called piparkūkas, fill homes with seasonal aromas, while gift-bringers like Ziemassvētku vecītis visit family parties where children dress as woodland beasts and dwarfs.

How Ziemassvētki is kept

Festivities begin on Christmas Eve as households trim spruce branches or fir trees with straw ornaments, feathers and dried elements. Families prepare traditional foods, bake spiced gingerbread, and place presents beneath the branches. In many communities, troupes of costumed mummers go from house to house in animal or spirit disguises, singing and offering blessings of fertility and health. During celebrations, gifts are handed out by Ziemassvētku vecītis or family members, with recipients reciting short poems or singing traditional verses before unwrapping their presents.

When and where

Most Latvians observe the holiday across three main days: Christmas Eve on 24 December, First Christmas on 25 December, and Second Christmas on 26 December. Orthodox communities follow their liturgical calendar and celebrate the festival in early January on the sixth, seventh, and eighth.

The festival is celebrated across Latvia in family homes, schools, and town squares, as well as by Latvian communities living abroad. Historical chronicles specifically link early public tree gatherings and merchant guild celebrations to the city of Riga.

What Ziemassvētki means

The festival unites the Christian observance of Christ's birth with older solar cycles. Pulling and burning logs symbolizes the return of the sun following the shortest day. Masked mumming processions act as fertility rites to repel negative forces, while the leader's life-giving whip conveys vitality, moral strength, and healthy growth to people and farm animals for the new year.

On the table

• Piparkūkas
• Ķūķis grain porridge with pig head
• Boiled peas and beans
• Mandarins

Flavours: Ginger

Questions people ask about Ziemassvētki

See also

Advent wreathAn evergreen ring of candles lit week by week in the lead-up to ChristmasLohriA northern Indian midwinter festival of evening bonfires, folk songs and harvest foodsMatarikiThe Māori New Year marked by the midwinter rising of the Pleiades clusterJulA midwinter holiday of feast tables, doorstep gift givers, and candlelit mornings

Good reading and sources

• Ziemassvētki on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.