How Latvians Abroad Build Communities: Hikes, Women's Weekends and a Cold Soup Festival
Life in Latvian communities abroad goes beyond choirs, folk dances and celebrations: Latvians in Brussels hold hikes, in Denmark women's weekends, and in Egypt book reading and a cold soup festival. All of these share a need to speak their own language and feel they belong.
Latvians living outside Latvia meet not only in choirs, folk dance groups or at holiday celebrations. This is reported in a piece by Latvian public media LSM about everyday life in expatriate Latvian communities, published on 3 November 2026.
Different activities in different places
In Brussels, the capital of Belgium, Latvians go hiking together and take part in orienteering activities. In Denmark, members of the community organise women's weekends. In Egypt, Latvians living in the town of Dahab read books and hold a cold soup festival. The headline of the article indicates that doctor's sausage, an ingredient for the soup, is brought there in a suitcase.
A shared purpose
Although these activities appear different, they rest on one and the same need. People want to speak their own language and feel they belong to a community. That is why, far from home, Latvians come up with forms of getting together that fall outside the traditional picture of diaspora life.
