Home Café Days in Jelgava Municipality draw around 4,000 visitors
Home Café Days held on August 8-9 in Jelgava Municipality, featuring 19 participating households, attracted roughly 4,000 visitors combined. Several hosts said the event inspired them to consider developing tourism or catering services.
Jelgava Municipality hosted its Home Café Days on August 8-9, with 19 home-based cafés opening their doors to visitors. Each offered its own menu and atmosphere, according to the Jelgava Municipality government.
After the event, café hosts shared information about visitor numbers and their experiences. The collected data show that around 4,000 people visited the cafés combined over the two days, though numbers varied widely between locations — from a few dozen at small, personal venues to several hundred at the largest ones.
Most popular cafés
The biggest draw was "Ciemos pie Emu," which welcomed 530 visitors, followed by "Ciemos pie alpakām" with 450. Around 400 guests each visited "Lauru pagalma svēki," "Bramberģes pils aicina" and "Viss ir Čilā."
Visitors from several countries
Survey results show the event attracted not only local residents but also guests from nearby towns, Riga and other regions of Latvia. Some cafés also hosted travelers from Lithuania, Poland, Germany, England and Switzerland. The most frequent visitors were families with children, couples and small groups of friends, who valued not just the food but also the farms' atmosphere, hospitality, the chance to meet animals, and participation in tours or workshops.
Interest in further development
Fourteen participants said they would be willing to take part in similar events in the future. Six hosts said they plan to develop tourism or catering services and grow their business activities within the next five years, while three others said the event inspired them to consider such a step for the first time.
