Livonian Coast
Livonians are among the most ancient Baltic Finno-Ugric nations who earlier lived in a vast area of Latvia. Now these are 14 villages (Oviši, Lūžņa, Miķeļtornis, Lielirbe, Jaunciems, Sīkrags, Mazirbe, Košrags, Pitrags, Saunags, Vaide, Kolka, Melnsils and Ģipka) on the coast of Dižjūra (the Great Sea) and Mazjūra (the Small Sea).
During the period of the Soviet occupation, the coast-line villages were on the border of the Soviet Union and the military interests of the government were concentrated there. The Soviet regime had defined the coastline of the Baltic Sea from Ventspils to Kolka as the «closed area» where the free movement of civilians was restricted. This contributed to the outflow of population from the Livonian villages and they were almost totally abandoned.
Now the Livonian traditions can be observed in the material and mental culture, dialect, personalities in literature and art, the green-white-blue colours of the Livonian flag. This is the spite and endurance that has matured in the sea winds. Every year on the first Saturday in August Livonians together with representatives of related nations from all over the world come together for the Livonian festival in Mazirbe.