Bauska's Old Town to celebrate the 1990s at next weekend's “Ciere” festival
On September 12, Bauska will host its annual Old Town festival “Ciere” together with the Zemgale market, this year themed around the 1990s. More than 100 traders are expected, alongside a special lighting installation on Rīga Street.
On Saturday, September 12, Bauska's Old Town will host its traditional “Ciere” festival together with the Zemgale market (Zemgales dižtirgus), the Bauska Culture Centre (BKC) has announced.
The market will open at 7 p.m. and bring together more than 100 traders, including craftspeople, home producers and other merchants from the surrounding area and beyond. Visitors will be able to browse and buy local goods, handmade crafts and homemade produce.
A nod to the 1990s
This year's festival theme is “Bauska in the 1990s,” a period BKC describes as full of change and contradiction. It was a time of newfound freedom and opportunity, but also economic upheaval, privatization, currency reform and high crime rates. For some residents the decade lives on in personal memory, while for others it has been passed down through stories that have taken on an almost legendary quality over time.
Rīga Street at the centre of it all
This year, Rīga Street takes on a special role, hosting all the festival's illuminated installations. The street will become a symbolic space reflecting the contrasts, moods and stories of the 1990s. Organizers invite visitors to view the buildings and windows along Rīga Street as witnesses to past ups and downs, hopes, changes and everyday life, encouraging them to recall their own experiences while listening to others' memories.
The festival is organized in cooperation with the Bauska Central Library and the Bauska Museum.
