Eyewitnesses: heavy drinking among youth and adults seen at Riga's Old Town festival

On Saturday, September 19, the "Riga Old Town Festival" at Dome Square drew around 7,000 visitors, and the State Police report the event went smoothly with no incidents. However, eyewitness accounts posted on the social platform Threads paint a rather different picture.

One festival attendee wrote that around 8 p.m. she saw young people sitting in rows on the sidewalks after having vomited, along with many others who could no longer stand upright. She said there were just as many staggering parents with small children. The woman described trying to help fellow visitors herself — giving her water to a young man whose friends were still offering him more alcohol, and helping calm a girl having a panic attack in the crowd. In her view, the event lacked a sense of safety.

Debate over alcohol consumption

The post sparked a broader discussion in the comments, with some users noting that young people learn this style of partying from adults. Another woman who walked through Old Town on Saturday evening confirmed seeing groups of adults who were already visibly drunk and behaving erratically by around 8 p.m. Another commenter compared the situation to British youth party culture — drinking to the point of unconsciousness and vomiting in the streets.

Other Old Town visitors admitted it was unpleasant to walk through the city center streets that evening, though some commenters also noted that excessive drinking among young people isn't a new problem and similar scenes occurred decades ago as well.

The festival began Saturday morning as a family-oriented event with a special children's program, while the evening brought concerts and a party at Dome Square featuring performers including Apvedceļš, Olga Rajecka, Būū, ODS, Muud and Bermudu divstūris, along with DJ sets between performances.