Latvian blonds hold festival to beat recession blues

Hundreds of blond Latvian women have been marching through the capital Riga to try to bolster the national spirit in time of recession. Most of the participants dressed in pink and wore high heels.

The blond parade began last year and was planned as a one-off but it is back by popular demand and is now a two-day festival.

Latvia has been hit badly by recession. Its economy shrank by 18% in 2009 and it has Europe's highest unemployment. Marika Gederte, president of the Latvian Association of Blonds, said the idea came out of the economic gloom.

"I was so tired, you know, every day opening the computer and reading the newspapers and just reading about problems. We decided... let's do something nice. And I asked myself the question: what can I do for my country? And this is what I did... We are very proud to be blond."