South Leicestershire MP, Alberto Costa, joined thousands of Latvians visiting South Leicestershire last weekend to celebrate the annual ‘Jani’ Latvian Summer Solstice Festival at Catthorpe Manor near Lutterworth.
Alberto spoke at the Midsummer festival to welcome visiting Latvians, including Her Excellency Ms Baiba Braze - Ambassador of Latvia to the United Kingdom, to South Leicestershire and to wish them ‘Priecigus Janus!’, a happy Midsummer’s Day, at the largest Latvian Midsummer festival outside Latvia.
Alberto said, “It was a tremendous pleasure to welcome so many visitors from across the UK and Latvia to South Leicestershire last weekend for their Jani Festival. This Midsummer Festival is a staple of the Latvian calendar and I am delighted that my constituency hosts such a wonderful event, the largest of its kind outside of Latvia, celebrating traditional Latvian culture and folk music”.
Alberto added, “I was really pleased to meet Her Excellency the Latvian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, to show her the delights of South Leicestershire and to show the fantastic welcome the country offers to visitors. The ongoing success of the Jani Festival in Catthorpe is owed in no small part to the dedicated staff and management at Catthorpe Manor and the Latvian Welfare Trust; Catthorpe has a very rich association with Latvia, and I am really proud that South Leicestershire continues to host this fantastic event”.
Picture above shows Alberto with the Latvian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Her Excellency Baiba Braze (centre) with Latvian musicians at the Jani Festival at Catthorpe Manor.
