Pāvilosta Invites Visitors to Experience Culinary Heritage at the Annual “Lamprey Festival”

On November 16, for the sixth time, Pāvilosta will host the “Lamprey Festival,” dedicated to the culinary heritage of the region. This event has become an integral November tradition in South Kurzeme.

During the festival, the region’s delicacy – the lamprey, fished from the Saka River by Pāvilosta’s own fishermen – is honored. Lamprey fishing in Pāvilosta has a tradition that spans almost 100 years, and the Saka River in the South Kurzeme region is the only place where lampreys are caught using traps.

This year, starting at 12.00, visitors will enjoy the Latvian flavors and artisan market, where they can purchase lampreys and local coastal fishermen’s products, taste lamprey soup prepared in the Pāvilosta style, and watch a masterclass by Žanis Raivo Behmanis, head chef of the Kuldīga restaurant “Kopa.”

Throughout the day, there will also be activities for children, the museum exhibition “The Sea Asks for a Fine Net,” a 3D fishing experience, as well as the photo exhibitions “Sea Gate 100 Years Ago” and “Lamprey Fishermen.”

The lamprey is an exclusive delicacy, and its fishing is a cultural and historical tradition in several coastal towns and villages in Latvia, including Pāvilosta, where it has been around for almost a century. During the Soviet era, the tradition was revived by one of Pāvilosta’s most active fishermen, Arvīds Zvaigzne, when the delicious Saka River delicacy could be enjoyed not only by fishing families but by everyone, as a lamprey processing plant operated in Pāvilosta from 1964 to the mid-1970s.

Explore the full festival program: here.