“Staro Rīga” light festival opens in Riga

The “Staro Rīga” light festival opens in Riga today, 15 November, and runs until 18 November, every evening from 5 pm to 11 pm. Light installations, audiovisual objects and video projections on building facades will be on display in the city’s streets and parks. The festival is part of the celebrations of Latvia’s birthday and invites residents to enjoy works by local and international light artists.

Theme and route

This year’s theme is “unum momentum – that one moment”. Artists interpret it as a moment that changes the world, in which a choice is made or a next step is taken. The mood of the theme is described by words of the poet Imants Ziedonis: “I am nothing if I do not have that light which people call love.”

The main axis of the route is the Daugava River. On the left bank it leads from the Palace of Light along the Mūkusala promenade, while on the right bank the end points are the Spīķeri area near the Central Market and Viesturdārzs park. An extension covers Old Riga and the area from the “Ave Sol” concert hall to Kronvalda Park. The total length of the route is almost five kilometres.

The main programme includes 52 light objects, and more than two thirds of them are new works by Latvian artists. The route consists of exhibitions by seven creative groups, works by young artists from the Art Academy of Latvia and the Latvian Culture College of the Latvian Academy of Culture, and individual objects.

Notable objects

For the first time, the object “Voices of Great Trees” (“Dižkoku balsis”) stands at the foot of the Freedom Monument. On 18 November it will become the stage for a festive concert, which will end with a light show.

Hungarian light artist Laszlo Zolt Bordos has created the installation ASCEND for the facade of the Palace of Light. In the palace square there will be an interactive installation by Norwegian light artist Anastasia Isachen, while the Hungarian group “Lightspray Visual” will make a projection on the facade of the Riga Congress Centre. In Viesturdārzs, French artist Sebastien Lefevre’s work SOLEIL NUIT, containing more than 5,000 mirror elements, is on show.

The programme also includes seven installations by Art Academy of Latvia students and four objects by the Latvian Culture College made together with students from a European university alliance from nine countries. The festival’s visual identity was developed by designer Dace Sūna, and the graphic design was created by Matīss Zvaigzne.