Baltic Unity day or Day of Baltic Unity ( lt, Baltų vienybės diena, lv, Baltu vienības diena) is a
commemorative day
Lists of holidays by various categorizations.
Religious holidays
Abrahamic holidays (Middle Eastern)
Jewish holidays
*Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread – 7 days of consumption of matzo with wine and avoidance of leavened foods ...
celebrated on
September 22 in
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
and
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
,
as well as
Latvian and
Lithuanian
Lithuanian may refer to:
* Lithuanians
* Lithuanian language
* The country of Lithuania
* Grand Duchy of Lithuania
* Culture of Lithuania
* Lithuanian cuisine
* Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
communities abroad. It was recognized as such in 2000 by both the
Seimas of Lithuania
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendme ...
and
Saeima of Latvia
The Saeima () is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular v ...
commemorating the 1236
Battle of Saule, where the joint pagan
Samogitian and
Semigallian forces decisively defeated the
Livonian Brothers of the Sword.
The day is marked with various events all over Latvia and Lithuania, with the main events taking place in one city on a rotating basis. The last of those cities have been
Rokiškis (2015),
Liepāja (2016),
Palanga (2017), and
Jelgava (2018).
In 2017 a special "
Balts' Award
The Balts' Award ( lv, Baltu balva, lt, Baltų apdovanojimas) is an annual award given to recognise excellence and achievements in the areas of Latvian- Lithuanian culture, history and language.
The award was inaugurated in 2018.
List of recipi ...
" was established to be awarded to individuals for the promotion of
Latvian and
Lithuanian languages, literature, and historic research. In 2018
Latvian Lithuanian professor and linguist became the first recipient of the prize.
References
Unity days
Latvian culture
Lithuanian culture
September observances
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