To most Latvians, Christmas isn't all about presents - or Christianity

Take note – story published 9 years ago

In a possible nod to Latvia's strong pagan traditions, a poll about attitudes to Christmas has found that most Latvians find Yuletide too commercialized and also have no intention of going to church.

The poll of 1,000 people by the SKDS pollster found that 62 percent of respondents find Christmas too commercialized with 27 percent not feeling that was the case and others undecided.

Meanwhile 74 percent of respondents said they didn't plan to go to church to mark the time of year with 20 percent saying they would do so with the remainder once again having no opinion on the matter.

Perhaps it's no coincidence that the Latvian word for Christmas - 'Ziemassvētki' - literally means 'Winter celebrations'.

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