Last week I had the honour of participating in the XXVI Latvian Song and XVI Dance Festival in Riga. This was the 145th anniversary of the festival and it fell on the centennial of Latvian Independence, so it was truly a spectacular event.

There is truly nothing more rewarding nor patriotic than participating alongside 43,219 other performers while an audience of over 67,000 joins in singing songs that have long been accepted into the cultural canon. Over the course of the week, more than half a million people took part in the dozens of events that took place around Riga as part of the festival.

I would like to say how proud I am of my choir in Paris, Latve, for all the hard work that has been put in the past few years in preparation, as well as to thank the organisers of the festival, who have been working tirelessly to make this festival so rich, diverse and ultimately made sure it was running smoothly. Until the next one!