Riga to host concerts, a military parade and the Staro Riga light festival during national holiday month
Riga City Council has outlined events for Lāčplēsis Day and Latvia's Proclamation Day, including concerts, a torchlight march, a military parade and a light festival. Traffic will be restricted in several areas, and public transport will be free on 18 November.
Viesturs Kleinbergs, chair of Riga City Council, has urged residents to plan their journeys in advance. In November, around Lāčplēsis Day (11 November, honouring Latvia's freedom fighters) and the anniversary of Latvia's proclamation as a state (18 November), the capital will stage numerous events, bringing traffic restrictions and changes to public transport routes. Unless stated otherwise, admission to the events is free.
Lāčplēsis Day, 11 November
A commemoration will take place at 15:00 at Sudrabkalniņš, at the junction of Slokas Street and Kurzemes Avenue. In the afternoon, memorial candles will be lit at the Riga Brothers' Cemetery, and a torchlight march will head from the cemetery to Freedom Square. At 18:00, freedom fighters will be honoured at the Freedom Monument, and the march will continue to the 11 November Embankment, where a fire raft will be launched on the Daugava near the Stone Bridge, followed by a singalong with the men's ensemble "Vilki".
An exhibition of military equipment and a memorial bonfire will be open all day near the Latvian War Museum, organised by the Ministry of Defence and the National Armed Forces. From 19:00, an event titled "Rīga, mūžības skartā" will be held on Bāriņu Street near Victory Park, featuring the bands "Juuk" and "The Sound Poets" and a staged concert with music by Jānis Lūsēns and poetry by Aleksandrs Čaks. Concerts are also planned at the Iļģuciems cultural centre, the Ziemeļblāzma culture palace, the Mazā ģilde cultural centre, Riga's Lutheran church and the Ave Sol concert hall. Free invitations for some events are available from 4 November at Biļešu paradīze box offices.
Proclamation Day, 18 November
The Latvian National History Museum in Riga Castle will run a holiday programme all day, a military equipment exhibition will be on show at the Riga Passenger Port, and a military parade of the National Armed Forces, the Interior and Justice ministries and foreign units will take place on the 11 November Embankment. In the evening, concerts will also be held at Ziemeļblāzma, the Imanta cultural centre, the Riga Latvian Society House and the VEF Culture Palace.
The central event will be held at Freedom Square: the folk group "Vilkači" will perform from 18:00, followed from 19:00 by the concert "Brīvības ainavas", based on the eight landscapes of the Latvian Culture Canon. A five-minute light and laser show will start at 20:10 and repeat until 23:00.
Light festival and traffic
The light festival "Staro Rīga" will run from 15 to 18 November, every evening from 17:00 to 23:00. Its theme is "unum momentum", or "one moment". Light installations, audiovisual objects and building facade projections will appear across the city.
Bāriņu Street will be closed from 20:00 on 9 November until 12:00 on 12 November. The 11 November Embankment between the Stone Bridge and the Vanšu Bridge will be closed on 11 November from 17:00 to 24:00, and fully closed from the afternoon of 17 November until the evening of 18 November. From 20:00 on 16 November to 23:00 on 18 November, stopping and parking will be banned on the embankment between the Stone Bridge and Muitas Street and on the parallel street. Some public transport routes may be shortened or diverted, while rides in Riga public transport will be free on 18 November.
More information is available at www.kultura.riga.lv.
