Best Time to Visit Ventspils

Location: 📍 🆅🅴🅽🆃🆂🅿🅸🅻🆂, Latvia
Type of Attraction: 🎈 City Celebrations
Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍

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𝒱𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓁𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓅𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝐿𝒶𝓉𝓋𝒾𝒶. 𝐼𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝒾𝑔, 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝑒𝓃𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓉 𝒶 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝓃, 𝒶𝓁𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝟨𝓉𝒽 𝒷𝒾𝑔𝑔𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉𝓇𝓎. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓋𝒾𝓈𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒯𝑜𝓌𝓃'𝓈 𝒸𝑒𝓁𝑒𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈, 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝒸𝒸𝓊𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝒜𝓊𝑔𝓊𝓈𝓉.


During the celebrations of the city, 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓼 comes back to life, the streets are back to normal, and it feels like it is a quiet seaside destination with a ｂｕｚｚ. Trust me on this! Other times it is like a ghost town, barely anyone there.

Strolling down the old town rewards you with a glimpse of history. You can tell that 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓼 has been touched by Art Nouveau although not at all near the extent of Riga (ᴵ ᵐᵉᵃⁿ ᴵ ᵈⁱᵈ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ ʷᵉʳᵉ ᵃⁿʸ). And sadly in a disturbing state. Some of the buildings revived thanks to the extensive restoration and the major of 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓼.

Back in the days, 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓼 was part of the medieval German merchants called 𝓗𝓪𝓷𝓼𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓬 𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓰𝓾𝓮. Take it as a European Union nowadays! To this day, its geographical location and ice-free port play a vital role in the economy and stability for the people and country as a whole.

You can learn quite a bit about the history and current situation by paying a visit to 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓼 𝓒𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮, which dates back to the 13𝓽𝓱 century. Spoiler alert - it is considered one of the oldest 𝓛𝓲𝓿𝓸𝓷𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓞𝓻𝓭𝓮𝓻 castles nowadays. Every time I go there, it has something new to offer. And the entree fee is symbolic. Also, during the festive period, you can enjoy medieval entertainment on the grounds.

𝐵𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑒𝓁𝑒𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 ...
The day 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓼 celebrates its birthday, it hosts an extensive program. It includes a street parade, several open-air stages, market stalls along the promenade as well as around the city and of course a grand finale - 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝑒𝓌🏵𝓇𝓀𝓈. With music and impressive display!

FLOWER CARPETS

But the highlight of the celebrations is something very unique to 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓼 - 𝒻𝓁❤𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓅𝑒𝓉𝓈! These are magnificent! The ideas artists come up with, and the careful selection of flowers and fruit has always fascinated me. Carpets gather constant flow of people interested in taking a snap. Some years 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓼 also hosted cow parades along the flower beds. Cows are the sculptures finished in different motives. One can also spot them around the city after the ceremony.

Do you see the bucket filled with pebbles? These were people voting for their favourite compositions.

THE MARKET

Let's talk market for a second. Do you like the Christmas market? If so, you would be in love with the market during the town celebrations. What I adore about it is the selection of goods. Ｗａｉｔ！ I would even say it is better than the Christmas market! You know, more fun stuff, less Christmassy.

My favourite item to buy is the smoked string cheese - delicious! Another cool thing is the games. You know, those old classic games. Or dolls, or sauna hats... too many to name, but trust me, it is worth coming for a day or two.

Don't forget it is a full-on all-day programme! No, I am lying, it is stretching into a week with most activities falling on the weekend. So make sure to book that flight to 𝓡𝓲𝓰𝓪 and catch a coach to 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓼 for the first week of August to enjoy celebrations, music, good food and seaside! And save some room in your luggage for all the goodies!

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ More from Ventspils - read on! ♥

Seaside Park with an Anchor Trail	GET ADVENTUROUS IN THE ADVENTURE PARK
NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY FROM THE PAST	Step inside the fishing village from the past!
Boat Trip on River Venta

MORE IMAGES FROM AROUND VENTSPILS

The photographs above show buildings on the main street.
Now, glance at some of the buildings from the old town below. You can tell the architectural assembly varies from the facade to facade.

An interesting thing about the old town called Ostgals is that most of the structures are wooden!