09.02.2012

Latvijas Pasts to present stamp contest winner The Place Where Stories Are Born

The first-day cancellation and presentation event of The Place Where Stories Are Born, the winner of the unique stamp design contest held for the first time by Latvijas Pasts, will take place this week, on January 27^th, at the place depicted on the winning stamp - the tree-shrouded building of the restaurant Bibliotēka in Vērmanes Garden, 2 Tērbatas Street, Riga.

The stamp The Place Where Stories Are Born, which was designed by Evita Eidinta and came out on top in the public voting on social networks, has been released with a print run of 500,000 stamps and a denomination of LVL 0.35. The first-day cancellation will take place in the restaurant building in 2 Tērbatas Street from 9 AM to 7 PM, while the presentation with participation of representatives from the Ministry of Transport, Latvijas Pasts, Bibliotēka and the Latvian Philatelic Association will be held at 11 AM.

In October 2011, in order to promote the work of Latvijas Pasts and one of the universal symbols of mail - the postage stamp - Latvijas Pasts involved the public in the creation of a stamp by using the possibilities offered by social networks. A total of 412 stamp designs were initially submitted for the competition, authored by both natural persons and legal entities, of which 343 fulfilled the conditions of the competition and were published on the website www.jaunapastmarka.lv. A committee of philatelic specialists, advertising experts and graphical designers selected 30 designs, to which anyone could give their vote over a period of two weeks by using a Twitter, Draugiem.lv or Facebook account.

A total of 4503 people cast their votes for their favorite designs. The Place Where Stories Are Born, which depicts the stone lions of Vērmanes Garden and the nearby tree-shrouded building of the restaurant Bibliotēka ("Library"), received the support of 752 voters.

The competition between this design and the closest follower - Ice Flower - was very fierce, especially on the final days of voting, when a video supporting the Ice Flower was posted online, while certain radio stations urged to vote for The Place Where Stories Are Born. In the end, Ice Flower placed second with 683 votes, while the third place with 595 votes was taken by the Hipster-hedgehog, whose supporters were also among the most enthusiastic.

The fourth place with 431 votes was taken by the stamp design Rooster. The other competitors received a lower number of votes: Languages - 284 votes, I love Latvia! - 204 votes, Delicious Latvia - 195 votes, Kuldīga - 169 votes, Inspiring Riga - 169 votes, Bird - 108 votes.

The active participation of voters proved that the stamp is a very important national "business card", in spite of the role of modern technologies in everyday communication, and that many people have an opinion on what design it should have. Latvijas Pasts is therefore strongly considering organizing such contests again in 2012.

Each year, Latvijas Pasts releases 12 to 16 new stamp designs and prints up to 17 million stamps, which then travel all over the world on letters and other postal items. The themes and subjects for each year are chosen by the special Stamp Issue Commission. However, in order to create a stamp with the participation of as many people of Latvia as possible, Latvijas Pasts offered everyone the unique opportunity to submit their own stamp design.

To find out more about the stamp contest, the submitted designs and the judges, please visit www.jaunapastmarka.lv.

See the new stamp The Place Where Stores Are Born and the first-day cover.

About SJSC Latvijas Pasts

Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides philately, transport and express mail, financial intermediation, payment, press subscription and retail services. Latvijas Pasts is a fully state-owned company with approximately 4,600 employees.

Additional information:
Gundega Vārpa,
SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Head of the External Communications Department
Phone: +371 67608505
E-mail: gundega.varpa@pasts.lv