November 2026 Marketing Calendar for Baltic Businesses: Mārtiņi, 18 November, Black Friday and Advent

November 2026 gives Baltic businesses five dates to plan around: Mārtiņi on Tuesday 10 November, Lāčplēsis Day on Wednesday 11 November, Proclamation Day on Wednesday 18 November (a public holiday in Latvia), Black Friday on 27 November and the first Sunday of Advent on 29 November. Plan the gift-season offers first, because a third of Latvians start buying gifts one to two months before Christmas. Keep 11 and 18 November respectful, not promotional.

Below is the full November marketing calendar with a campaign idea and a "launch by" date for each moment, the Lithuanian and Estonian dates that matter if you sell across the Baltics, what the latest surveys say about when and where people shop, and a printable checklist at the end.

What are the key marketing dates in November 2026?

Here is the month at a glance. The "launch by" column is the latest sensible date to have your offer live, not the date to start planning.

The legal status matters for planning staff and opening hours. Under Latvia's law on holidays, remembrance days and celebration days, 18 November is a public holiday, while 11 November is a commemoration day and not a day off (Law on Holidays, Remembrance Days and Celebration Days, likumi.lv). In 2026, 18 November falls on a Wednesday, so there is no transferred day off and no long weekend. In Lithuania, 1 and 2 November are official public holidays, and many institutions close or shorten their hours (Vilnius Events, Go Vilnius).

When do Baltic shoppers start buying Christmas gifts?

Earlier than many small businesses plan for. In a SmartPosti survey fielded in October 2025, 33% of Latvians said they buy Christmas gifts one to two months before Christmas, along with 31% of Estonians and 37% of Lithuanians. About a quarter of Latvians and Lithuanians, and about one in five Estonians, buy two to four weeks before (SmartPosti, November 2025; 736 respondents in Latvia, 751 in Estonia and 739 in Lithuania, aged 18–59).

Count back from Friday 25 December 2026. "One to two months before" means late October to late November. So the gift season has already started by the time Black Friday arrives. If your shop or café sells anything giftable, from vouchers and boxed coffee to cosmetics and experiences, your gift offer should be visible from the second week of November, not from December.

Price is the main lever. In the same survey, 48% of Latvians named the lowest price as their main factor when choosing where to buy, as did 51% of Estonians and 55% of Lithuanians. That is a reason to show prices clearly, but not necessarily to cut them: a time-limited reward that can only be collected in person can feel like a deal without a permanent markdown.

Do Baltic shoppers prefer to buy gifts online or in store?

Most still prefer physical shops. Only 24% of Latvians said they prefer buying gifts online rather than in physical stores, against 21% of Estonians and 31% of Lithuanians (SmartPosti, 2025). A separate Norstat survey for Latvia found that 53% of gifts are clothing, home goods and cosmetics bought in stores, and 23% are experiences such as tickets or dinners (The Baltic Times, December 2025).

That 23% is good news for cafés, restaurants, gyms, climbing centres and anyone who sells time rather than things. A gift voucher for a dinner, a class or a tasting is a real gift category, not an afterthought. Put it on the counter, on your Google Business Profile and in your social posts from mid-November.

How should you market around Mārtiņi on 10 November?

Mārtiņi is the traditional boundary between autumn and winter in the Latvian calendar. It marked the deadline for finishing farm work, and costumed mummers went from farm to farm singing and joking in exchange for treats. The day is still linked to roosters, and goose later became a popular dish (LSM, November 2022). In Estonia, Mardipäev falls on the same day, with children going door to door singing and asking for sweets (Visit Estonia).

It is a warm, playful occasion, which makes it the easiest November date for a light-hearted campaign:

• Cafés and restaurants: a Mārtiņi dish or pastry for that week only, or a free treat for anyone who comes in wearing a mask or costume.
• Shops: a "first day of winter" display with warm goods, plus a small in-store gift for the first visitors.
• Family venues: a morning of songs and riddles for children, in the spirit of the mummers.

In 2026, Mārtiņi is a Tuesday. Build the offer around the evening of the 10th and the weekend before it (7–8 November), when people have time to go out.

How should businesses handle 11 and 18 November?

With care. Lāčplēsis Day commemorates those who fought for Latvia's independence, and Proclamation Day marks the founding of the state in 1918. "Independence sales" and discount codes on these days can easily come across as tasteless. A business loses little by staying quiet and can lose goodwill by getting it wrong.

What works:

• Get your hours right. If you close or change hours on 18 November, update them on your Google Business Profile and website by the week before. Shoppers check opening hours online, and wrong hours are one of the quickest ways to lose a visit. Our Google Business Profile checklist shows how to set special hours.
• Celebrate, don't sell. Red-and-white decorations, Latvian-made products on display, or a festive drink on the house are fine. A "-18% for 18 November" banner usually is not.
• Welcome people on their day off. If you are open on the 18th, many people are free to go out during the day. A warm welcome is marketing enough.

Does Black Friday bring customers into physical shops?

It does, but less than before and mostly online in the Baltics. Paysera, which processes payments for more than 13,000 e-shops, reported that Baltic online spending on Black Friday 2025 was 27% higher than on an average November day, and the average online purchase over the Black Friday weekend was €82, up from €68 a year earlier (Paysera, December 2025).

For in-store traffic, the most detailed public data is from the US. ShopperTrak counters showed US store visits on Black Friday 2025 were 2.1% lower than in 2024, but 248.9% higher than on the previous Friday, with the peak between 14:00 and 16:00 and 15:00 the busiest hour (Sensormatic Solutions via Business Wire, November 2025). Baltic footfall patterns will differ, but the lesson travels: Black Friday is still a day when people are out and in a buying mood, especially in the afternoon.

For a walk-in business in Riga, Vilnius or Tallinn, the practical takeaway is:

1. Don't compete with e-shops on percentage discounts. You will lose on price and on margin.
2. Offer something that only works in person: a gift with purchase, a tasting, a limited reward collected at the counter.
3. Staff and stock for the afternoon. If the US pattern holds, 14:00–16:00 is your window.
4. Extend into the weekend. Black Friday 2026 is followed directly by the first Advent weekend, so a Friday-to-Sunday offer catches both crowds.

When does the Advent and Christmas-market season start in Riga?

The first Sunday of Advent in 2026 is 29 November. In 2025, the Old Town Christmas market on Doma laukums ran from 28 November 2025 to 4 January 2026, with food and drinks from more than 80 traders (riga.lv). At the time of writing, the 2026 dates have not been published, so check riga.lv before you plan around them. If last year's pattern holds, the market will open around the last weekend of November.

For businesses in and near the Old Town, the market is both competition and a source of passers-by. Give people a reason to walk a few extra streets to you: a warm place to sit, a reward they can only collect at your door, or a stop on a walking route. Our guide to free things to do in Riga this winter shows how locals and visitors move around the city at this time of year.

How far ahead should you launch each November campaign?

Work backwards from the date, and leave time for people to notice. As a rule of thumb:

• Gift vouchers and gift offers: live by 9 November and kept running until Christmas.
• Mārtiņi offer: announced a week ahead, by 2 November.
• Opening hours for 18 November: updated online by 9 November.
• Black Friday and first-Advent weekend: announced by Monday 23 November, live from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November.
• December plan: drafted by the end of November, because the weeks before Christmas fill up fast.

If you want a simple way to bring people to your door on these dates, Ramble lets you put a reward on a city map that players collect in person, with the visit verified by GPS. An Instant Drop (€29) takes minutes to set up and suits short offers such as Mārtiņi week; a Live Drop (€149) suits a Black Friday afternoon, when you want a crowd at a set time. Our post on Ramble campaign types compares the formats. If paid social or a newsletter already works well for you, keep using it: Ramble is for the moment you need people to actually walk in.

November marketing checklist

Print this and tick it off:

1. Mark your five key dates in the calendar: 10, 11, 18, 27 and 29 November (plus 1–2 November in Lithuania and 25 November in Estonia).
2. Update your opening hours for 18 November on Google, your website and social profiles.
3. Decide your gift offer (vouchers, boxes, experiences) and display it from 9 November.
4. Plan one playful Mārtiņi idea for 7–10 November.
5. Agree a respectful approach for 11 and 18 November with your team: no discounts tied to the dates.
6. Design a Black Friday offer that only works in person, and staff up for the afternoon.
7. Run it through the first Advent weekend (27–29 November).
8. Check riga.lv for the 2026 Christmas market dates if you are near the Old Town.
9. Measure visits, not views: count redeemed coupons, codes at the till or vouchers sold.
10. Write down what worked, so next November starts from data, not from memory.

The quieter weeks between these dates matter too. For ideas on filling them, read how to get more foot traffic in winter. And if you want to test a campaign before the gift season peaks, you can start your first Ramble campaign for €1.