The Riga authorities have been forced to abandon the Staro Riga light festival and install fewer Christmas trees in 2022. This was reported to Izvestia in the City Duma.
Many fairs in Germany are now using energy efficient lighting. Spanish cities close holiday markets earlier than usual. And in Vienna, mulled wine costs already €12.
After two years of the pandemic, Europe’s Christmas markets were finally supposed to reopen as normal. However, 2022 brought new challenges. On the one hand, the energy crisis and inflation, and on the other, the ethical dilemma: is it possible to arrange a feast in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine.
The Baltic countries still launched fairs. In an interview with Izvestia, a deputy of the Riga City Council, Yakov Pliner, recalled that in September, due to the crisis, the authorities canceled the Staro Riga light festival.
“It was an amazing show. In addition, we always put up three Christmas trees: at the House of the Blackheads (opposite the building of the Riga City Council), on the Dome Square and on the embankment. This year we had to give up one Christmas tree. And all this, coupled with the rules of economy for ordinary citizens – now it is impossible to keep the temperature in apartments above +19 degrees, ”the politician added.
Nevertheless, hundreds of lights on the festive spruce in Old Riga still lit up on November 27th.
As local residents of other countries told Izvestia, despite the crisis, the festive atmosphere on the streets in 2022 remained the same.
Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:
Special atmosphere: how the EU prepares for Christmas in the energy crisis
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