The legendary Open Air Museum Fair is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Due to restrictions on assembly, it has been decided not to hold it on-site this time, but to create a virtual fair on the Internet, Latvian Radio said August 14.
From Friday, August 14, until the following summer, E-gadatirgus.lv will display and offer for purchase products of Latvian craftsmen and home producers, which would otherwise be sold on fairs.
The virtual fair will also allow local products to be purchased by those who could not have come to the open-air museum for the traditional weekend. Shipping abroad is available, said, Vice-Director of the Open-air Museum Kristīne Kūla.
“This is not an Internet store, rather an Internet catalog where a shopper can meet with a vendor. Each craftsman may choose whether he places his goods in the direct sale, or whether there is an indication of his workshop where the goods can be purchased on the spot. (…) Interest is high, there are nearly 200 craftsmen who have applied for a thousand different goods. Unlike spot fair, which takes place two days in June, the e-fairs will be held all the time, and craftsmen will be able to apply for it until the end of the e-fair,” Kūla said.
Since 1971, the Museum annually hosts craftsmen’s fair, which is traditionally held at the first weekend of June. In 49 years of its existence, the fair has become an event of national significance – now it is a symbol of crafts of Riga and Latvia and a feast for its participants and visitors.
The fair is a place of meeting and professional experience exchange for folk applied arts craftsmen of different generations and crafts who come from all historical regions of Latvia and abroad. At the same time, the Fair is a show of the year’s achievements made in crafts and a great opportunity for craftsmen to show and sell their best products.
