Riga’s residents and visitors seeking to celebrate the 4th of May, the Day of Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia, will be welcome to a diverse range of cultural activities, from the ceremonial laying of flowers at the Freedom Monument, to special musical presentations, concerts and creative workshops, a film marathon, the ‘Put a folk garment for Latvia’ (‘Uzvelc tautas tērpu par godu Latvijai’), and other events in the city’s centre and neighbourhoods.
Cultural events
Celebrations dedicated to the 34th anniversary of the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia will begin with a flower-laying ceremony at the Freedom Monument, at 10:30 to 11:00 on 4 May. At 12:00 to 13:30, Latvian school brass bands will offer a marching performance on Brīvības Square, dedicated to the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia.
Meanwhile, from 12:00 to 18:00, there will be creative workshops for the whole family, entitled ‘Create a Green Latvia!’ (‘Radi zaļu Latviju’) in Arkādijas Park and Latgales Park. Their attendees will become foresters and gardeners, planting a tree or flowers in a pot, which they can later replant in their own garden, backyard, or forest. Participation in the workshop is free of charge. Latvian school brass bands will perform in both the parks between 15:00 and 16:00.
Another instance of this creative workshop will take place in Vērmanes Garden from 13:00 to 17:00, where musical entertainment will be delivered with the ‘You are Latvia’ (‘Tu esi Latvija’) event for children, and there will be other creative workshops for the whole family as well. During the Vērmanes Garden events, people will be able to join various creative workshops: working with illustrator and comic book artist Rebeka Lukošus, they will create their own White Tablecloth story, they will make their own flag or badge about a flourishing Latvia, paint flower pots or a cloth bag. The musical event will include presentations by children’s vocal ensembles Podziņas, Kolibri, Momo, Knīpas un Knauķi, Poppy, Dzeguzīte, and the musical group BikiGRUPA. Actor Rihards Zelezņevs will host the event.
The Splendid Palace cinema will run a Latvian Film Marathon, which will take place between 13:00 and 23:00 on 4 May.
From 13:00 to 20:00, at the Rātslaukums in Old Town, there will be the once-a-year event ‘Put a folk garment for Latvia’ and the holiday concert ‘Other Ways’ (‘Citādi ceļi’). The region-based gathering for the folk costume parade will begin at the Rātslaukums on 12:30, and at 13:00 the celebrations will open with the Vilkači folklore and traditional martial arts group. 13:20 to 14:00, the festive parade will go from Kaļķu Street to Brīvības Square, with a laying of flowers at the Freedom Monument at 14:00 to 14:40. For this holiday, we urge everyone to wear a folk costume in honour of Latvia.
At 15:00, the ‘Citādi ceļi’ holiday concert will begin at the Rātslaukums. It feature lead performersAija Vītoliņa, Atis Auzāns, Dagnis Roziņš, Katō, Mārtiņš Kanters, Raimonds Celms, Samanta Tīna, with the instrumental band consisting ofArtūrs Sebris (saxophone), Dairis Petrauskis (drums), Edgars Jass (keys), Gatis Priekulis (guitar), Marija Vasiļjeva (accordion), Rolands Stepanovs (bass guitar). Musical producer: Uldis Timma. Between 17:00 and 18:00 there will be a performance by the band ‘Laimas muzykanti, from 18:00 to 19:00, - by ‘Jauno Jāņu orķestris’, and from 19:00 to 20:00, by ‘Raxtu raxti’. The event will be hosted by Raimonds Celms and directed by Sandis Kalniņš. You are welcome to come to the celebrations in person, although there will be an option to watch them online: https://www.facebook.com/events/3754017108160978.
Meanwhile, at 16:00, the concert ‘Latvia’s Folk Daughters’ (‘Latvijas Tautumeitas’), featuring the Tautumeitas ethno-pop band, will take place at the Ziemeļblāzma culture palace. Invitations will be available at the ‘Biļešu paradīze’ outlets starting from 29 April.
At 16:00, at the Small Guild cultural centre, the Balsis youth choir will offer the concert ‘For Latvia’ (‘Latvijai’) with the singer Ieva Parša and an instrumental band.
The concert ‘Latvia’s Moods/Sounds’ (‘Latvijas (no)skaņas’) will take place at the VEF Culture Palace at 18:00. It will be performed by the Riga Orchestra, conductor Valdis Butāns, actress Guna Zariņa, and concert director Signe Lagzdiņa. Free invitations will become available at ‘Biļešu paradīze’ outlets and at www.bilesuparadize.lv on 27 April.
The event’s schedule includes contemporary Latvian composer pieces dedicated to the splendour of Latvian nature, the commemoration of notable personalities, as well as patriotic feelings towards one’s homeland.
At 19:00, the Imanta cultural centre will host the concert programme ‘Vācietis. Ziedonis. Jakovļevs’. It will include a poetry reading by Ģirts Jakovļevs, and a musical performance by Katrīna Paula Felsberga (vocals), Agnese Egliņa (piano). The concert programme will cover Latvian chamber vocal music with lyrics by our great poets Imants Ziedonis and Ojārs Vācietis.
Riga City Council also invites you to see the ‘Costume of Honour’ (‘Godu tērps’) exhibition, which will be presented in the windows of the Small Guild culture centre until 10 May.
From 1 May at 10:00 until 6 May at 23:00, the Small Guild’s Facebook and YouTube accounts will feature the documentaries ‘Esplanāde’ and ‘Rainis: the People’s Poet’ (‘Tautas dzejnieks Rainis’) by the Ģilde folk film studio.
Outdoor objects in the city
As usual in May, the city will be decorated for the 34th anniversary of the Restoration of the Independence of the Republic of Latvia, with red-white-red flags on street light poles, catenary line poles, masts, flag and design structures, and there will be specially-made design objects on display as well.
Three outdoor art objects will be exhibited in the city. In the front yard of Āgenskalns Market, there will be the outdoor design object ‘Radiance’ (‘Starojums’), inspired by the symbols of the sun and light. Uzvaras Park will have the object ‘Holiday Flag’ (‘Svētku karogs’), visually inspired by Latvian symbols, with a triangle representing the sky, symbolically protecting Latvia and its flag, and a wooden slats painted with the colours of the flag, suspended on chains, and linked to the ornaments of folk costumes and their jingling. In Doms Square, Riga’s citizens and guests will find the outdoor object ‘Latvia’ (‘Latvija’), at which they will be able to take pictures of themselves, their relatives and friends.
Also, starting from 10:00 on 4 May, at the Freedom Monument, everyone will be able to take part in the traditional, once-a-year creation of the ‘Latvia of Flower’ object, filling the outline of the map of Latvia with spring flowers, symbolically decorating and honouring Latvia on its holiday.
Since 2009, ‘Latvia of Flowers’ (‘Ziedu Latvija’) has been a popular and integral part of the holiday, one of the symbols of 4 May in Riga. The large installation symbolically depicts Latvia as a meadow that its people fill with flowers, creating a colourful and blooming composition. The finished installation will be also available for viewing on 5 and 6 May.
Until 31 May, a conceptual event will take place at Uzvaras Park with the outdoor object ‘Democratic Square’ (‘Demokrātiskais kvadrāts’). The outdoor installation by Ēriks Božs represents a democratic and inclusive society, revealing how we can see the whole picture of an object or process from different perspectives. The installation was created with the involvement of local residents.
For more information about all of the events and their schedules, visit the websites culture.riga.lv and riga.lv, and follow Riga City Council’s social media accounts ‘Rīga’ https://www.facebook.com/Riga.lv and ‘Rīgā notiek’ https://www.facebook.com/RigaNotiek.
Information was prepared by: Aira Ancāne, project coordinator, Riga City Council Communication Administration External Communications Department, e-mail: aira.ancane@riga.lv
