As we celebrate Latvia's birthday, the "Staro Rīga" Light Festival invites you to celebrate it by taking to the streets of Riga to experience positive emotions and the joy of surprise together on these dark evenings.
"Staro Rīga" Light Festival will take place during four days from November 15 to 18 every evening from 17:00 to 23:00. During this time, Riga's streets and parks will be lit up with diverse light installations, and the city's environment will be filled with surprising and original light art objects.
The theme of this year's festival is "Heralds of the Dawn". Dawn is the time after a dark night, when the first rays of the sun break through the darkness, lighting the way for a new day. "Staro Rīga" invites you to see light as a herald of a new beginning – as hope born out of darkness. The herald of dawn can be a premonition, a feeling that something will change or emerge, because it can no longer remain as it has been. Everyone can be a herald of dawn, improving and changing themselves, inspiring and improving our common living space.
The route of the "Staro Rīga" 2025 Light Festival will consist of six "Circles of Light" through the city, starting with the light objects near the National Library of Latvia, followed by the Old Riga Light Circle, the Freedom Monument Light Circle, the Riga City Centre Park Light Circle (Vērmanes Garden, Esplanade), the Freedom Street Light Circle, and as the final one – the Miera Street Light Circle.
More than 40 light objects will welcome visitors, telling the story of dawn, hope and a new day. The festival route is tailored for shorter or longer walks, with a total length of approximately 6 kilometres, and is designed to be walked in a single evening or over several evenings, choosing to view the light objects in each individual circle of light.
This year's festival will feature not only works by local light artists, but also a wide range of installations and light objects by international artists. Artists from Portugal, Macedonia, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Romania and Italy will participate in the festival, together making up one third of the total selection of this year's festival.
Information for foreign tourists on "Staro Rīga" Light Festival is available on “Live Rīga” calendar and “Live Rīga” guide.
Full programme of the "Staro Rīga" Light Festival can be found on the website www.staroriga.lv.
Information was prepared by Ineta Miglāne, Project Coordinator, External Communication Division of the Communications Department of the Riga City Council, e-mail: ineta.miglane@riga.lv.