Rinkēvičs to take week-long vacation, will skip Aglona festival this year

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs will take his annual vacation from Saturday, August 8, until the following Saturday, August 15, according to information released by the Presidential Chancellery. During this period, under the Constitution, the duties of the president will be carried out by Saeima Speaker Daiga Mieriņa of the Union of Greens and Farmers.

The vacation period includes August 15, when the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary — an important date for Catholics — is celebrated in Aglona. This internationally significant shrine is visited annually not only by pilgrims but traditionally also by the president, other senior officials, and diplomatic representatives. Rinkēvičs has attended the festival in previous years, but will not travel there this year.

Dāvis Doršs, head of the Presidential Chancellery's Media Centre, confirmed that the president does not plan to attend the Aglona festival during his vacation, and that Roman Catholic Archbishop-Metropolitan of Riga Zbigņevs Stankevičs has already been informed.

Preparations for the festival

Pilgrims from Riga and other cities began traveling to Aglona in the first days of August. Spiritual preparation for the festival in the Aglona parish will begin on August 11 with special services, when the basilica will especially welcome believers unable to attend the main celebrations on August 14 and 15. The main service will take place on August 15.

Security measures

The State Police, which traditionally ensures both traffic safety and public order during the festival, has announced an action plan prepared this year for the event of an air threat. If an orange-level cell broadcast alert were issued regarding a threat detected in Latvian airspace, police could close off the center of the Aglona village and redirect traffic away from the event site, and the event itself would be halted. Police are urging attendees to follow organizers' instructions on parking and to choose parking spots in advance that are closest to their planned direction of travel afterward.