Riga plans concerts, parade, memorial events and light festival for national holidays

Riga City Council is organising a series of events in November for Lāčplēsis Day on 11 November and the 108th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia on 18 November. The programme includes memorial events, concerts, a military parade and the “Staro Rīga” light festival. Most events are free of charge unless stated otherwise, the municipality says.

Viesturs Kleinbergs, Chairman of Riga City Council, urges residents and visitors to attend the celebrations but to plan their journeys in advance: traffic will be restricted, public transport routes will change, and delays are possible.

Lāčplēsis Day, 11 November

A memorial event will take place at 15:00 at Sudrabkalniņš, at the junction of Sloka Street and Kurzemes Avenue. In the afternoon, memorial candles will be lit at the Riga Brothers’ Cemetery, and a torchlight procession will set off from the cemetery to Freedom Square. At 18:00, freedom fighters will be honoured at the Freedom Monument. The procession will continue to the 11 November Embankment, where a fire raft will be launched on the Daugava near the Stone Bridge, and a community singing event will be held near Riga Castle with the men’s choir “Vilki”.

A military equipment exhibition will be open all day near the Latvian War Museum, with a memorial bonfire for freedom fighters. At 19:00, the event “Rīga, mūžības skartā” will take place on Bāriņu Street by Victory Park. Concerts will also be held at the “Iļģuciems” cultural centre, the “Ziemeļblāzma” palace of culture, the “Mazā ģilde” cultural centre, the Riga Luther Church and the “Ave Sol” concert hall.

Proclamation anniversary, 18 November

A military equipment exhibition will be on view at the Riga Passenger Port, while the 11 November Embankment will host a military parade of the National Armed Forces, the Interior and Justice ministries and foreign units. The Ministry of Defence and the National Armed Forces are organising these events.

The central event will be held at Freedom Square: at 18:00 the folklore group “Vilkači” will perform, and at 19:00 the festive concert “Brīvības ainavas” (“Landscapes of Freedom”) begins, based on the eight landscapes of the Latvian Cultural Canon. After the concert, at 20:10, a five-minute light and laser show will start and repeat every five minutes until 23:00.

“Staro Rīga” light festival

The festival runs from 15 to 18 November, every evening from 17:00 to 23:00. Its theme is unum momentum – “that one moment”. Light installations, audiovisual objects and building façade video projections will appear in Riga’s streets and parks. The city will be decorated with flags, and a live-fire installation will be set up near Bastejkalns.