On Meteņi, Spring

Spring is almost here in Latvia. On the first Sunday of March, I went to the Old Town of Rīga to mark the Latvian celebration of Meteņi. This Spring awakening festival marks the transition from winter to spring, blending timeless traditions with community revelry. Meteņi has rich historical origins, and is still recognised today in contemporary celebrations with good food and drink. Join me as we welcome Spring! 

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Transcript

On Meteņi

Spring is almost here in Latvia. On the first Sunday of March I went to the Town Hall Square in the Old Town of Rīga to mark the Latvian celebration of Meteņi. This Spring awakening festival marks the transition from winter to spring, blending timeless traditions with community revelry. Meteņi has rich historical origins, and is still recognised today in contemporary celebrations with good food and drink, of course. Join me as we welcome Spring! 

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Meteņi is an ancient Latvian spring awakening holiday that occurs in February or early March, precisely seven weeks before Easter. There isn’t a direct English translation of the word “Meteņi” itself, as it’s a culturally specific term. This celebration marks the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, a time when ancient Latvians celebrated the New Year and eagerly anticipated spring's arrival. No different nowadays. I personally dislike winter - snow holds no joy for me - and I look forward to Spring and signs of new life. The festival concludes on Ash Wednesday, which is followed by Lent.

The word "Meteņi" originates from the early Latvian word "meti", meaning "turn of time" or "gauge", a concept still preserved in the modern Latvian word "laikmets" (era). Interestingly, the Lithuanian word "metai" still means "year", highlighting the festival's connection to ancient calendar systems.

For traditional Latvian agricultural communities, Meteņi represented a pivotal moment in the yearly cycle — a time when winter's grip loosened and preparations for spring planting could begin. The celebration embodied hopes for fertility, abundance, and the awakening of nature after winter's dormancy.

According to ancient Latvian tradition, Meteņi is personified by Meteņis, a god or spirit connected to the growth of flax and the fertility of domesticated animals — two critical agricultural products for ancient Latvians. 

In the dainas, the short traditional songs that preserved Latvian culture through generations, Meteņis is described as having five sons and five daughters. He would arrive at the festival on a magical sleigh, and the path of his sleigh would determine the coming year's fertility. This belief eventually translated into the festival's emphasis on distance and movement as symbols of prosperity.

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Let’s look at traditional celebrations. 

A central concept of Meteņi is distance—swinging higher, sledding further, and travelling great distances to visit friends and relatives were all believed to ensure agricultural success in the coming year. Even today, sledding and travelling during Meteņi serve as good omens, with speed and distance playing in one's favour.

No Latvian celebration would be complete without a feast, and Meteņi is no exception. Traditionally, the feast focuses heavily on pork — particularly pig's feet, head, snout, ears, and sausage — along with breads, rolls, beer, and other grain-based dishes.

A special dish called grūdenis, a hearty porridge made from pork, barley grits, and potatoes (sometimes with beans and grey peas added), was often the centrepiece of the Meteņi meal.

Speķrauši, small crescent-shaped pastries stuffed with bacon and onion, are another common Meteņi treat, while pancakes have become a symbol of the celebration in more recent times. The abundance of food represents the hope for plenty in the coming agricultural season.

The traditional belief holds that "if the festive table is abundant and the guests are well fed and happy, then the next year will be fertile, healthy and successful" - a concept that mirrors the agricultural focus of the spring awakening festival.

While Meteņi is distinctly Latvian, similar celebrations exist throughout the Baltic and Slavic regions. Lithuanians call their version užgavėnės, while Estonians call it vastlapäev. To Russians and other Orthodox Christians, this festival is known as Maslenits. These parallel traditions highlight the shared cultural heritage of the region while maintaining distinct local characteristics.

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Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Meteņi is the tradition of ķekatas — masked revellers known for their rowdy, uninvited visits to homes throughout the community. The English translation of the Latvian “ķekatas” is “mummers”. The English tradition of mummers is a folk custom dating back to medieval times, involving costumed performers who travel from house to house or perform in public places.

Going house to house, the Latvian ķekatas sang songs that praised and teased their hosts, inspected homes for cleanliness, and playfully demanded food and drink. Maybe it is only my Latvian relatives on my wife’s side, but if they pay you a visit, one of the first things they do is open the fridge and start munching and drinking your beer! Back to ķekatas. Sometimes, they would even steal small items — a tolerated tradition symbolising winter hardship. Often, these items would later reappear in unexpected locations, symbolising the luck the year might bring.

In Latvian ķekatas tradition, each character has a specific role to play during these masked processions. These roles serve both entertainment and ritual purposes, bringing good fortune while driving away evil spirits.

Let’s have a look at the main character roles in Ķekatas.

The Bear. Bears growl in all corners of the house to bring luck to the household. They are often accompanied by a bear handler who wakes the bear from winter sleep and makes it dance.

Death. People must dance with Death to ensure good health in the coming year. Death represents the connection to the spirit world and is particularly associated with the autumn season when ancestors' souls are honoured.

A Crane. The Crane asks riddles to the household members, testing their wit.

A Gypsy. The Gypsy character tells fortunes, often reading palms similar to actual travelling Roma fortune-tellers.

A Goat and a Wolf. These animal characters represent fertility symbols and natural forces. They typically engage in playful antics and sometimes enact a predator-prey relationship.

And the Village Broom and Witch. The Witch has an energetic, fiery presence and symbolically sweeps away everything that is unnecessary or harmful.

The masked participants (called ķekatnieki) move from house to house, singing, dancing, and performing their character-specific roles. Hosts are expected to welcome them, offer food and drinks, and participate in the festivities by dancing and singing with them. This interaction is believed to bring blessings, fertility, and good fortune to the household while driving away malevolent spirits.

With the approach of spring and nature awakening, the theme of fertility is especially relevant in the mask processions. Sexuality, fun, laughter, and jumping are notable characteristics of these mask processions.

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How is Meteņi celebrated nowadays?

Meteņi is a pagan festival. It fell out of favour during the Christian era and then the Soviet occupation. However, Meteņi is experiencing a revival in contemporary Latvia. The celebration is now taught in some schools as a way to connect children with their ancient heritage, and these children are, in turn, bringing the traditions back into family life.

On 2 March 2025, Riga hosted a Meteņi celebration at Town Hall Square, organised by the Culture and Folk Art Centre "Ritums" in cooperation with Riga City Municipality and the Latvian Folklore Society. The event featured mask parades, performances on stage, an open-air mask exhibition, creative workshops, and traditional activities. I was pleasantly surprised at how professional it was. Announcements were in both Latvian and English. That helped this Englishman in Latvia understand what was going on! The event allowed both residents and visitors - I heard a number of foreign languages being spoken - to experience how ancient Latvian spring-awakening traditions interact with modern times, offering opportunities to see, feel, taste, and hear the rich heritage of this cultural celebration.

I got to the square half an hour early, so started by looking at the mask displays and taking lots of photographs. Then there was a loud noise going on - drums, bells, sticks, and chanting. And scary-looking masked men dressed in animal furs and, erh hum, each had what looked like a carrot and two onions dangling from their waste. Remember that the tradition is a fertility festival! There was some playful beating or squirting of water at women. Women were also dressed in animal outfits and masked.

Fires were lit in cauldrons, and after a bit of singing, the long masked parade trundled off through the old town streets to return half an hour later. In the meantime, stalls sold traditional food, yes lots of pork, and mulled wine. 

The afternoon included performances by traditional mask groups “Ķekatas” and “Meteņdienas čigāni” (Meteņi Day Gypsies), followed by boasting contests (a traditional Meteņi activity) and a concert by the folk band “Tā kā pērn”. In between the performances, a DJ played some great contemporary folk music. Much was new to me so I used the Shazam app on my phone to recognise the bands, and downloaded the music later.

The celebration then continued with strength contests, a performance by the mask group “Budēļi”, and a concert by the band “Rahu The Fool”. The festivities culminated with the symbolic burning of a fireball, representing the defeat of winter, followed by a concert by the popular group “Olas”. 

The 2025 celebration was particularly aligned with traditional timing, as the Meteņi new moon fell on 2 March, coinciding with the Christian calendar’s placement of the holiday (seven weeks before Easter). This made the 2025 celebration especially significant as both traditional and Christian calendars aligned.

The celebration’s focus on masking traditions, community participation, and the transition from winter to spring highlighted the continuing importance of Meteņi in Latvian cultural identity. By encouraging participants to join the mask parade in any form of disguise — whether representing professions, animals, actors, singers, or other figures — the organisers emphasised the inclusive and participatory nature of this ancient tradition.

Admission to all the events was free, making this cultural celebration accessible to everyone and highlighting its role as a community-building experience rather than a commercial event. Apart from a very few food and drink vendors, there was no selling of stuff that is often associated with festivals. I think that contributed to why I enjoyed the event so much. 

A lovely afternoon in which all of one’s senses were stimulated. 

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A bit more on Meteņi food and drink.

As with many pre-Lent festivals around the world, Meteņi focuses on hearty, satisfying foods before the more austere period that follows.

Pork features prominently in the Meteņi feast, with specific preparations that use various parts of the pig. During this festival, people traditionally slaughtered pigs, making it an opportune time to prepare special dishes that would show off the fresh meat.

The feast typically centres on particular pork cuts, including pig's feet, head, snout, ears, and sausage - parts that might be less commonly used in everyday cooking. A boar's head  is considered the traditional main dish for the celebration, representing abundance and prosperity for the coming agricultural season.

Perhaps the most distinctive dish associated with Meteņi is grūdenis, a porridge that serves as a focal point of the meal. A centrepiece dish. This risotto-like preparation combines pork (often using meat from the pig's head due to its fatty, tender nature), barley grits, potatoes, and sometimes beans and grey peas are added for additional substance.

Baked goods and pastries are also made for Meteņi. Speķrauši (bacon rolls) are small crescent-shaped pastries filled with bacon and onion. The traditional recipe is made of yeasted dough made with flour, milk, butter, and eggs. Then a filling of finely diced smoked bacon and chopped onions seasoned with black pepper. It is baked until golden brown.

The Meteņi feast also includes special breads unique to the celebration like Tītenis (a special Meteņi bread mentioned in Latvian traditions), Miežu un kaņepju plāceņi (flatbreads made from barley and hemp), and Meteņa maizītes (special pastries prepared for the celebration).

In recent times, pancakes have become increasingly associated with Meteņi, similar to how they feature in other pre-Lent celebrations across Europe like Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day in my home country of England. Latvian pancakes (pankūkas) are now commonly served during the festival, representing a more contemporary tradition that has been integrated into the celebration.

This is a Latvian festival. There must be some alcohol involved. Of course there is!

Beer is one of the primary traditional drinks associated with the Meteņi celebration. As part of the feast that focuses heavily on pork dishes and grain-based foods, beer serves as the complementary beverage that brings the meal together. Traditionally, beer was brewed at home specifically for major celebrations, and Meteņi would have been an occasion worthy of special brewing.

Milk features prominently as another traditional Meteņi beverage, often served alongside beer. Fresh milk represents purity and new beginnings, themes that align perfectly with Meteņi's position as a spring awakening festival. The inclusion of milk in the Meteņi celebration also reflects the agricultural focus of the festival. In Latvia's traditional farming communities, dairy production was an essential aspect of livelihood.

I don’t know what you will think of this next hybrid. Alus Piens (Beer Milk). This unique drink is prepared by boiling or mixing hot milk with beer, sometimes with bread crumbled into it for additional substance. An acquired taste, I suggest. The first records of this drink in Latvia date back to the late Middle Ages. In the 17th century, Rozins Lentilijs wrote in his essay "Some Remarkable Things About Courland":

"They make the so-called beer cheese in this manner: they put cow's milk to boil in a pot, and when the milk boils, they continuously add an equal amount of beer, so that in the end there remains as much liquid in the pot as there was milk at the beginning. This is now a rather pleasant drink, which is also given without harm to the sick in fever thirst and heat”.

As with most seasonal Latvian celebrations, the Meteņi feast emphasises abundance. The overindulgence in rich, fatty foods serves as a direct contrast to everyday frugality and connects to ancient magical beliefs about encouraging fertility and prosperity.

Regardless of the specific dishes served, Meteņi celebrations emphasise eating and drinking as much as desired. A final indulgence before the leaner spring season begins. 

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Meteņi represents more than just a quaint folk tradition; it embodies the Latvian connection to seasonal rhythms, agricultural heritage, and community bonds. As this ancient celebration experiences renewed interest in contemporary Latvia, it demonstrates how traditional practices can remain relevant in modern life.

Meteņi offers a fascinating window into both the country's ancient past and its living culture. The festival's combination of feasting, masquerade, communal celebration, and seasonal awareness speaks to universal human experiences while showcasing the unique cultural expressions of the Latvian people.

The revival of Meteņi reminds us that traditions need not be static relics but can be dynamic, evolving practices that continue to bring meaning and joy to communities — connecting past, present, and future in an unbroken circle, much like the turning of the seasons themselves.