Latvian Sauna Day on 12 September will see sauna heaters fired up across the country. More than 70 saunas in different regions of Latvia will open their doors to visitors, offering everything from free introductions to sauna culture to traditional sauna rituals and in-depth workshops. The main idea is wonderfully simple: this Saturday, Latvia goes to the sauna.
Latvian Sauna Day is traditionally celebrated on the second Saturday of September. This year it falls on 12 September, and the Latvian Sauna and SPA Association invites people to heat their family saunas, gather relatives and friends, or visit sauna masters who will welcome guests on this special day.
The idea is not to create one large event in a single Latvian city. Quite the opposite – the purpose of Latvian Sauna Day is to have sauna heaters burning in communities throughout the country at the same time.
More than 70 saunas across Latvia
The scale of this year’s event is already impressive.
According to information published by the organisers, more than 70 saunas are preparing to welcome visitors. The programme will differ from place to place – some will offer free introductions and tours, while others will provide traditional sauna rituals or more in-depth workshops.
This means Latvian Sauna Day is not intended only for experienced sauna enthusiasts.
It is also an opportunity for people who do not have their own sauna, or who have previously only been curious about traditional Latvian sauna culture, to visit a sauna master and experience it first-hand.
One day, dozens of different sauna experiences
The participating saunas demonstrate just how diverse Latvian sauna culture really is.
In one place visitors may discover the tradition of the smoke sauna; elsewhere they may learn to prepare body scrubs or sauna whisks, take part in a sauna ritual, explore massage techniques or combine sauna heat with a swim in a pond.
Some saunas place particular emphasis on local plants and their traditional use – from wormwood and meadowsweet to cornflowers and yarrow.
Latvian Sauna Day therefore offers a chance to discover how differently individual sauna masters can work within the same living tradition.
The main invitation – go to the sauna
The idea behind the event is deliberately simple.
There is no need to buy a ticket to a huge festival or travel across the country. If a family has its own sauna, the invitation for 12 September is simply to heat it and bring people together.
If you do not have your own sauna, you can choose one of the sauna masters who will be welcoming visitors on Latvian Sauna Day.
As a result, the same day can take many different forms – a family sauna in the countryside, a ritual led by a professional sauna master, an evening with friends or someone’s first encounter with a traditional sauna.
There is no single standard Latvian sauna ritual
More than 70 participating saunas also mean more than 70 different experiences.
One may be a small family sauna, while another is a professionally designed sauna venue. One sauna master may focus on whisking, another on plants, conversation, relaxation or practical knowledge.
The sauna masters themselves and their approaches also differ.
This diversity is one of the most interesting characteristics of Latvian sauna culture. There is no single formula that determines what every sauna or every sauna evening should look like.
Latvian Sauna Day makes it possible to see, on one date, just how broad and varied this tradition really is.
A sauna tradition lives only when people practise it
Cultural heritage can be researched, photographed, described and preserved in archives. A living tradition is different because people continue to practise it.
Keeping sauna culture alive requires someone who knows how to heat a sauna properly. Someone who knows when and how to prepare sauna whisks. It requires sauna masters who pass their knowledge on and families in which children learn from parents and grandparents.
And, of course, it requires people who simply continue going to the sauna.
That is why the invitation to “Go to the sauna!” on 12 September means much more than it might initially seem.
An opportunity to find your sauna master
One of the most valuable aspects of Latvian Sauna Day is the opportunity to connect people looking for an authentic sauna experience with those who can provide it.
Visitors do not necessarily need to know in advance which sauna master to choose. The official Latvian Sauna Day programme groups participating venues by region, making it possible to begin with the area closest to home.
A sauna that someone has never heard of may be only a few kilometres away.
At the same time, the event gives sauna masters an opportunity to become more visible in their local communities and introduce new visitors to their individual approach to sauna culture.
From a sauna festival to a sauna day across the entire country
Latvian Sauna Day is not the country’s only major sauna event.
During the summer, PirtsFest in Tērvete brought sauna masters, enthusiasts and people interested in sauna culture together in one place for several days.
Latvian Sauna Day follows a completely different model.
A festival brings people to one location.
Latvian Sauna Day does the opposite – it aims to make sauna culture come alive everywhere at the same time.
At home. At a neighbour’s sauna. With friends. With a professional sauna master. In Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale, Latgale and Riga.
That is precisely why the event can become one of the simplest and, at the same time, most effective ways of keeping Latvia’s sauna tradition alive.
One shared Sauna Day on social media
The organisers are encouraging people not only to visit a sauna but also to share their experiences.
The common hashtags are #LatvijasPirtsDiena2026, #pirtsdiena and #EjPirtī.
This makes it possible to see very different saunas and people from across Latvia in one shared information space – from professional sauna venues to small family saunas.
The event therefore gains another dimension: during a single Saturday, participants themselves can create a kind of living map of sauna culture across Latvia.
On 12 September, Latvia goes to the sauna
Latvian Sauna Day does not need a complicated explanation.
If you have a sauna – heat it.
If there are people you would like to share it with – invite them.
If you do not have your own sauna – find a sauna master who is opening their doors to visitors.
And if you have not been to a sauna for years, perhaps this is a good opportunity to rediscover the tradition.
Latvian Sauna Day on 12 September is not simply an event for professional sauna masters. It is a very simple idea – to fire up as many sauna heaters as possible across Latvia on the same day and keep a centuries-old tradition alive through the people who continue to practise it.
Sources
Latvju Pirts un SPA Asociācija – Latvijas Pirts diena.
Latvju Pirts un SPA Asociācija – Latvian Sauna Day programme in Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale, Latgale and Riga.
ZiemeļLatvija – 12. septembrī visa Latvija dodas pirtī.
PirtsFest – information about PirtsFest 2026.
