Student association celebrates Latvian Independence Day

The Baltic and Finnish Studies Association is holding a celebration today in honor of Latvian Independence Day, celebrated by Latvians around the world. The event is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Indiana Memorial Union's University Club.\nThe celebration is held on the anniversary of Latvia's declaration of independence from the Russian Empire at the end of World War I.\nThis is the second consecutive year the association has celebrated the Independence Day. Vice president of BAFSA and graduate student Janis Cakars said Bloomington's first public recognition of the holiday held special significance for many Latvian members of the community. \nAbout 50 students were in attendance at last year's event, Cakars said. She said this year, BAFSA hopes to draw an even bigger crowd. Graduate student and BAFSA President Eve Nilenders said she is excited about this year's event. She said she helped organize the evening, which she said will include Latvian food and two choral performances of Latvian folk music. \nMara Lazda, a doctoral student in the Department of History, said she will speak on themes of Latvian memory, based on her own experience and oral history research in Latvia last year.\nNilenders said the celebration is a way to acknowledge a day which has personal significance for BAFSA's members while sharing their culture with what she said she hopes will be a large number of students.\nNilenders said members of BAFSA are particularly interested in the Baltic region for reasons ranging from academics to family ties. She said some are children of Latvian refugees, who fled west during and immediately following World War II.