Streets in Valmiera to close briefly during Lāčplēsis Day torchlight procession
On 11 November, from 6:00 pm to 6:25 pm, sections of Rīga and Semināra streets in Valmiera will be closed for a torchlight procession. Traffic will be delayed, traffic lights switched off and buses will run late.
Sections of two streets in Valmiera, a city in northern Latvia, will be closed to traffic on 11 November, Lāčplēsis Day, from 6:00 pm to 6:25 pm. The closure covers Rīga Street from the Valmiera Culture Centre to Semināra Street, and Semināra Street from its junction with Rīga Street to the city's Centra cemetery. The restrictions are linked to a torchlight procession honouring the heroes of Latvia's wars of independence. The information was provided to the portal Valmieras Ziņas by Zane Bulmeistare, deputy head of the Valmiera municipality's branding and public relations department.
The municipality asks residents to expect traffic delays. Traffic lights will be switched off until the procession ends. Valmiera city buses and regional buses will run late, and are due to resume movement immediately after the procession finishes, at about 6:25 pm.
Procession route and programme
Participants will gather by the Valmiera Culture Centre. The route runs along Rīga Street to Semināra Street, where it turns left and continues to the Centra cemetery. A remembrance moment is planned at the cemetery at about 6:25 pm. Speakers will be pastor Andris Akmens, Rev. Juris Škapars, chaplain of the 22nd Combat Support Battalion of the 2nd Vidzeme Brigade, and Jānis Baiks, chairman of the Valmiera municipality council. The Valmiera Culture Centre's men's choir "Imanta" will perform, and historian Alberts Rokpelnis will lead the remembrance. Organisers invite attendees to bring torches and candles.
Events before the procession
At 5:00 pm a service will be held in Valmiera's St Simon's Church, where the duo "Mediante", Zane and Māris Rozenfelds, will perform patriotic songs. From 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm, anyone can take part in creating a gift for Latvia at the Culture Centre and be photographed in a Latvian birthday setting. The photographs will be compiled into a video greeting, which can be viewed on 18 November as a projection on the Culture Centre wall, on valmierasnovads.lv and on the municipality's social media.
