In the first Song Festival in 1873, the Baltic Teachers’ Seminary Choir, conducted by Jānis Dreibergs, stood next to the Līgo flag and performed Kārlis Baumanis’ Dievs, svētī Latviju! (God Bless Latvia!) for the first time. The location for the flag ceremony, which holds the deep roots of the Song Festival tradition, is an important part of the Festival ritual, and a ceremonial beginning for the ten-day-long event which takes place every five years.