RIGA, April 19 (LETA) - If the XII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Celebration takes place in Latvia's epidemiologically safe regions, in small groups of people and on a voluntary basis, the event will not pose threats to its participants and spectators, Justice Minister Janis Bordans (New Conservative Party, JKP) said Monday following the weekly coalition meeting.

The Education and Science Ministry, which is headed by JKP member Ilga Suplinska, is in charge of organizing the youth song and dance festival. In Bordans' words, coalition partners on Monday came to the conclusion that Latvia might go ahead with the festival but that it needs a format that would not pose health risks to the kids and adults. 

The justice minister said that extracurricular activities for groups of up to ten people in outdoor settings is acceptable in the current situation. Authorities would determine in which regions the song and dance festival could be held without causing Covid-19 risks. Bordans also expects the epidemiological situation to improve by the second half of the summer thanks to vaccination against Covid-19. 

"We are talking about organizing the festival in the second half of the summer. By that time, the situation should be significantly different," the minister said, adding that this year, the song and dance festival will not take place in its traditional form and that there will be neither the procession in Riga nor large performances and rehearsals. "The festival starts from regions, not in Riga," he said.