All year long I gathered songs, oh, ligo ligo
Waiting for the day of Janis, ligo ligo
Now that Janu day has come here, ligo ligo
I will sing one after another, ligo ligo

As the day moves along more and more people arrive in Saulaine. There will be more than 2,000 Latvians and friends here before the night is over. Cars are filling up the fields and the woods by the river. People are setting up tents and gathering firewood. People are milling about and greeting friends they may not have seen for months or since last summer.

Olga, Ilze, Jekabs and their father make their way through the gathering crowd, retracing their steps back from the river. Earlier, Olga had delighted in the feeling of space, running all around. Now she stays close to her father. Many people recognize and greet her father. He, in turn has a smile and a song for everyone. As Olga participates in the singing she feels the energies of fun and celebration flow through her.

This way, it is slow going back to their cottage room. When they finally get there, Olga barely has time for a change of clothes and a quick snack before she heads off again with her family up to the central yard for a short rehearsal of the evening's program. The yard is crowded and noisy, with the canteen doing brisk business and people lingering to visit after eating at the picnic tables under the old apple trees.

Olga is glad to see the familiar faces of the other performers. Everyone is in a jovial mood and Olga enjoys the teasing and camaraderie among them. However, when the discussion topic turns to where they will stand and how they will fit into the program this evening, Olga is content to suck on candies one of the performers has passed around, to let her mind relax and drift around the surrounding scene.

From her position in the yard, Olga can see out over the field where a large bonfire is burning with a pig roasting on a spit in the air. Olga wonders whether anyone is really going to try to jump over the fire, later on after the pig has been eaten and the flames have died down. Couples in love may jump over the fire together to declare their intentions towards each other and receive blessings. Hundreds of years ago, there was significance attributed to this act. But in the 1960's, in Saulaine, jumping over the fire is done for bravado and fun, if at all.

The songs tell of this and other ancient beliefs of occurrences that happen on the shortest night of the year. Paparde (pah-par-deh), a fern that is symbolic of this occasion, does not bloom all year, the songs say. It blooms only during the night of Janis, with golden blossoms. There are songs about the children of Janis being born. Songs about the bride of Janis. How she carries a bucket of water home from the well, spilling silver drops along the way.

There are songs about the people at their work, about their animals, about the landscape features and plant life surrounding them. Most of the songs that will be sung tonight, however, are the greeting songs and the songs asking for food and drink, inciting people to share their wares and rejoice.

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