On 8 and 9 August, Home Café Days took place across Smiltene Municipality, inviting visitors to discover the area through its flavours, people and their stories over the course of two days. This year, 22 home cafés welcomed guests in various locations throughout the municipality.

Over the two days of Home Café Days in Smiltene Municipality, visitors enjoyed both traditional family favourites and flavours inspired by Italy and other countries, as well as local products and special dishes created by the hosts especially for the occasion.

However, Home Café Days long have been about much more than just food. In many places, meals were complemented by live music, workshops, exhibitions, games and other activities. Visitors could discover traditional crafts, go kayaking, try archery, make their own pizza, explore the world of tree sap, and enjoy many other experiences. At several locations, the setting itself created a special atmosphere, ranging from a historic manor and farmhouses more than a hundred years old to a garage dedicated to car projects.

This year’s theme for Home Café Days in Smiltene Municipality was “Slow Down and Savour Life”, encouraging visitors not to rush from place to place in an effort to see as much as possible, but instead to choose their stops, linger a little longer, talk with the hosts, and discover each place through the people who live and work there.

The greatest value of Home Café Days lies in the local people themselves. Behind each of the 22 cafés were families, friends and like-minded people who spent several months preparing, planning menus, creating activities and opening their homes to visitors for one or two days. Seeing how many people set out to explore Smiltene Municipality over the weekend makes the hosts’ hard work especially rewarding. It is particularly pleasing that visitors come not only to enjoy a meal, but also to spend time here, talk with the hosts, discover new places and continue their journey through the municipality.

Over the course of two days, the home café “Skursteņslauķu sēta” welcomed more than 350 guests. “Every guest was personally welcomed by the host. It was especially heart-warming to see so many families with children. On Sunday afternoon, as many as 17 children were playing in the yard at the same time. Thank you for every kind word, for your warmth and for the wonderful atmosphere we created together! There were so many of you, and you were truly fantastic. We hope to see you again!” says Iveta Zariņa, the host of “Skursteņslauķu sēta”.

For some hosts, this was their first experience taking part in Home Café Days, while for others it has become an annual tradition.

“This day was truly special. Not only because of the flavours, laughter and constant activity, but also because of the feeling that together we created something genuinely beautiful. Serving more than two hundred tacos in a single day means roughly one taco every two and a half minutes. Our guest who travelled the furthest came from Jelgava, and we also welcomed visitors from Riga. It was an incredible experience! Next year, we plan to take part on both days and are already working on a new theme. Here is a little preview of next year’s menu: BBQ. It will be juicy and full of flavour!” says Kristaps Purmalis, host of “Purcha Garage”, who took part in Home Café Days for the first time.

The Entrepreneurship and Tourism Department is currently compiling the total number of visitors across all 22 home cafés. The hosts report that their guests included both local residents and people who had travelled to Smiltene Municipality from Riga, Jelgava and other parts of Latvia, as well as from neighbouring Estonia.

The Entrepreneurship and Tourism Department would like to thank every participant in Home Café Days for their hard work and hospitality, as well as every visitor who chose to embark on a culinary journey through Smiltene Municipality this weekend. For the first time this year, the municipality presented all participants of Home Café Days in Smiltene Municipality with specially designed aprons created for the occasion, helping to strengthen a sense of community and belonging to the municipality.

Following a suggestion from the participants, a joint follow-up meeting with the home café hosts is also planned for early September to discuss this year’s experience, the most successful approaches, and ideas for the future development of Home Café Days in Smiltene Municipality.

Home Café Days in Latvia are organised by the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia in cooperation with the Latvian Country Tourism Association “Lauku ceļotājs” and local municipalities. In Smiltene Municipality, the event was coordinated by the Entrepreneurship and Tourism Department of Smiltene Municipality.

Photos by Jānis Ūdris

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Written by Līga Ozoliņa, Tourism coordinator Līga Ozoliņa (tourism entrepreneurship)