XXVI NATIONWIDE LATVIAN SONG AND DANCE CELEBRATION PROGRAM
26.08.2018
30 June |
10.00
|
Choir Competition Finals “Battle of the Songs”
University of Latvia Great Hall |
Latvia’s best amateur choirs compete in the final competitions in the mixed choir, men’s choir, women’s choir, and senior choir categories. The competition will be judged by an international jury. Once the competition is over, and the jury has finished their deliberations, the winners of the Song Wars will be announced on the spot in the presence of the participants evoking unforgetable emotions in the particpants and the spectators! All are invited to come hear Latvia`s best amateur choirs in person and enjoy the special competition atmosphere. Free entry. |
1-8 July |
10.00 |
Latvian Craft Fair, Masterclasses
Vērmanes Garden, Esplanade Park |
During the entire week of the Song and Dance Celebration, craft fairs will be operating in Vermanes Garden and the Esplanade Park. Here you will have the opportunity to admire and purchase the work of craftspeople from all regions of Latvia and enjoy a wide-ranging concert programme. |
1 July |
08.30 |
Song and Dance Celebration Flag Ceremony
Riga Latvian Society House |
Dievs, svētī Latviju, the Latvian National Anthem, was sung for the first time at the first Latvian Song Festival in 1873. The Baltic teachers’ seminary choir led by Jānis Dreibergs performed the song under the flag of the festival. This tradition honoring the ‘Līgo Flag’ with a rendition of the national anthem will be renewed at the 2018 Latvian Song and Dance Celebration. |
1 July |
10.00 |
Ceremony Honouring the Chief Directors and Conductors of the Song and Dance Celebration
Song Festival Park |
This is a traditional Song and Dance Celebration ritual in which the chief conductors and directors of the XXVI Song and XVI Dance Celebration, and honorary chief conductors and directors, will be recognised. |
1 July |
12.00 |
Sacred Music Concert “I Am…”
Riga Cathedral |
The opening of the Song and Dance Celebration traditionally includes a concert of sacred music. This year the motif is ‘I AM...’. This idea can be found in both the Old and the New Testaments and is a fundamental element for discovering God in the Holy Scriptures. |
1 July |
14.00 |
Celebration Process Freedom Street – Stabu Street - Celebration Square (Skonto Stadium) |
1 July will be dedicated to the Celebration and to honouring the Celebration participants. A colourful procession will make its way through Rīga, along Freedom Street, this time ending at the special Celebration Quarter prepared for Celebration participants in Skonto Stadium. |
1 July |
21.00 |
Celebration Opening Event
Celebration Square - Skonto Stadium |
The Opening events serve to honour each and every participant and thank them for what they have invested in making the Celebrations a reality! |
2 July |
11.00 |
World Latvian Day. “Conference Latvians Around the World – We Belong to Latvia. Preserving and Developing the Traditions of the Song and Dance Celebration”
Riga Latvian Society House |
Latvians living abroad, invited experts, and representatives of Latvian institutions and Latvian society will come together at this annual conference—held since 2011—to listen to each other and share their accomplisments from the past year. The theme for this year’s conference is the Song and Dance Celebration as an event that unites Latvians around the world. |
2 July |
11.00 |
Vocal Ensembles Competition
Riga Culture and Folk Art Centre—the Small Guild |
The Finals of the Latvian Choir Competition will take place in 5 categories—men’s choirs, women’s choirs, mixed choirs, seniors, and semi-professional vocal ensembles. The competition will be judged by an international jury. |
2 July |
12.00 |
Latvian Amateur Theatre Performances—plays by Ādolfs Alunāns
Vērmanes Garden |
This day marks the 170th birthday of Adolfs Alunāns, Latvia’s first professional actor, director, and playwright! The father of Latvian theatre will honoured with perfromances of his work by Latvian and Latvian diaspora amateur theatre ensembles. |
2 July |
16.00, 20.00
|
Dance Concert “Another Hundred Years of Dance” Arena Riga |
More than 18 000 dancers will tell the story of Latvia from the 12th to the 21st century through movement and dance creating a fascinating show of patterns, energy, rythms, and colours. |
2 July |
18.00 |
Foreign Latvian Artistic Ensemble concert “The Cycle of Life”
Riga Latvian Society House |
This concert programme includes pieces performed at Latvian Song and Dance Festivals abroad over the past few years, the singers’ best-loved songs, and the XXVI Song and XVI Dance Celebration repertoire. 500 singers will participate! |
2 July |
18.00 |
Senior Choir Concert “Shimmering Rose the Sun”
Esplanade Park |
The theme of this concert is the celebration of life through song. Songs from various periods about the sun and the earth, and songs about ourselves will be sung by a joint senior choir—1000 members strong! |
3 July |
12.00 |
Latvian Amateur Theatre Performances—plays by Ādolfs Alunāns
Vērmanes Garden |
This day marks the 170th birthday of Adolfs Alunāns, Latvia’s first professional actor, director, and playwright! The father of Latvian theatre will honoured with perfromances of his work by Latvian and Latvian diaspora amateur theatre ensembles. |
3 July |
14.00, 19.00 |
Musical “The Firebird”
VEF Culture Palace |
More than 60 young singers, dancers, and musicians from America, Canada, and Latvia will perform in this heartwarming musical theatre show. |
3 July |
19.00 |
Wind Orchestra Concert of Latvian Music “To Touch Time”
Great Guild Concet Hall |
Concert-goers will have the opportunity to hear pieces composed for wind orchestra by Latvian composers of various eras performed by Latvia’s best wind orchestras. |
3 July |
19.30 |
Minority Folk Ensemble Concert “With the Sun”
Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theatre |
The theme for this concert is a celebration of the many forms of friendship between Latvians and representatives of other ethnic groups Around 300 participants from various minority choirs and dance ensembles, vocalists and folk singer will participate. Video materials showing success stories from bilingual families will also be shown. |
3 July |
20.00 |
Folk Music Concert All My Fair Songs
Palladium Concert Hall |
Enjoy new folklore-inspired compositions, modern arrangements and interpretations, and the exploration of new tembres, sounds, and harmonies! |
4 July |
19.00 |
Wind Band Concert Series in the Churches of Riga
Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Jacob Cathedral, St. Martin’s Church, Church of Jesus, Church of Luther in Torņakalns, St. Gertrude New Church |
The playing of wind instruments in churches and church towers is an ancient tradition. Its inclusion in the Celebration programme allows audiences to fully appreciate the wide range of possibilities for wind orchestras—from the characteristic subtlety of chamber music to the bright sounds of a big brass band! |
4 July |
21.00 |
Vocal Ensemble Sacred Music Concert “Close to You”
St. John’s Church in Riga |
The heart of Latvian sacred vocal music—a unique blend of the musical traditions of Latvia’s historically most popular denomenations, Catholic and Lutheran. The six best Latvian vocal ensembles together with the Mägi Ensemble from Seattle, WA in the US will perform at the concert. |
5 July |
12.00 |
A Day for All “Morning Dawns”
Vērmanes Garden |
Various ethnic groups that have long lived withing the territory of Latvia will introduce onlookers to their traditions on three specially-built stages throughout the day. |
5 July |
12.00 |
Latvian Amateur Theatre Performances
Dailes Theatre Small Hall and Chamber Hall |
Over the course of a single day it will be possible to see up to ten performances of works by Latvian playwrights interpreted by Latvia’s best amateur theatre ensembles. |
5 July |
19.00 |
Latvian Traditional Costume Show
The Palladium Concert Hall |
The Latvian folk costume is a symbol of Latvian culture and national identity. For the fifth time since 1998 this Latvian Folk Costume Show will take place, engendering pride in our national culture, enriching our knowledge of the most successful folk costume reproductions and ensembles, and enhancing the folk costume culture of celebration participants. |
5 July |
19.00 |
Kokle Concert “Play, Brother! Play, Sister!”
Dailes Theatre Great Hall |
More than 400 kokle players from various ensembles will particpate in this traditional kokle concert. |
5 July |
20.00 |
Latvian Vocal Symphony Music Concert
Arena Riga |
Vocal symphonic music concerts are a traditional part of the Latvian Song and Dance Celebration—another colour in the Celebration’s rainbow through which Latvia’s best amateur and professional choirs, professional orchestras, and soloists display their talents. |
5 July |
20.00 |
Vocal Ensembles Concert “Weaving the Ring of Time”
Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theatre |
11 vocal ensembles from all corners of Latvia will perform the rythms of day and night, light and dark, throughout the four seasons. |
5 July |
22.00 |
Great Dance Concert “Mara’s Country” Dress Rehearsal Daugava Stadium |
More than 18 000 dancers will tell the story of Latvia from the 12th to the 21st century through movement and dance creating a fascinating show of patterns, energy, rythms, and colours. |
6 July |
12.00 |
Folk Music Ensemble Day
Vērmanes Garden |
Vērmanes Garden will be filled with the sounds of Latvian instrumental folk music ensembles. You will be able to hear many different styles of folk music on multiple stages, see performances by diaspora folk dance ensembles, and participate in the folk dancing yourself or enjoy the atmosphere of an open-air country dance. |
6 July |
12.00 |
Latvian Amateur Theatre Performances
Dailes Theatre Small Hall and Chamber Hall |
Over the course of a single day it will be possible to see up to ten performances of works by Latvian playwrights interpreted by Latvia’s best amateur theatre ensembles. |
6 July |
17.00 |
The Great Wind Band Concert
Esplanade Park |
This event has been surprising audiences with its qualitative innovations and new methods and expression since 2003, when the tradition of staging a Great Concert for Wind Orchestras began. The Joint Wind Orchestras from all regions of Latvia will be participating, and the grand finale will be perfromed by a Great Orchetra of 500 musicians! |
6 July |
19.00 |
Children`s Vocal Ensembles Concert “The Wolf has Such Spirit”
Dailes Theatre Great Hall |
Children’s vocal ensembles from all over Latvia—about 150 singers—will sing the story of two separate worlds—the world of people and the world of wolves. |
6 July |
22.00 |
Great Dance Concert “Mara’s Country” Daugava Stadium
|
More than 18 000 dancers will tell the story of Latvia from the 12th to the 21st century through movement and dance creating a fascinating show of patterns, energy, rythms, and colours. |
6 July |
22.00 |
Kokle Music Night Concert “Signs of Sound”
Rīga Cathedral |
Concert-goers will have the opportunity to enjoy the performances of Latvian kokle ensembles, duets, and the multi-faceted performances of the soloists. The concert will culminate in an all-encompassing, tembrally rich performance by a joint kokle emsemble of 120 kokle players. |
7 July |
11.00 |
Folklore Day Regions of Latvia Sings Together
Vērmanes Garden |
Vērmanes Garden will be filled with the voices of more than 60 folklore groups and ethnographic ensembles from Latvia and Latvian communities abroad. |
7 July |
11.00 |
Vocal Ensembles Street Concerts
Riga Old Town streets and squares |
Vocal ensembles will sing throughout the streets and squares of the Riga Old Town—the sounds of the Old Town and the voices of the singers will weave together to create a unique experience. |
7 July |
12.00 |
Folklore Day Build “Tall Doors for the Bride”
Latvian Ethnographic Open-air Museum |
More than 60 folklore groups and ethnographic ensembles will perform marriage and wedding songs from various regions of Latvia, and two young people—Zane and Kristaps—will be married in a real Latgalian wedding ritual according to the ancient traditions. |
7 July |
12.00 |
Children's Folklore Ensemble Concert “Playtime, Hand in Hand”
Esplanade Park |
Children are the inheritors of our traditions, they breath new life into them and, together with their parents and grandparents, they reveal the colours and culture of their regions through their own particular creative style. Both individually and in small groups they will sing together, and join in games and dances. Come enjoy together with them! |
7 July |
20.00 |
Closing Concert “Following the Starry Path” Dress Rehearsal
Mežaparks Open-air Stage |
This three-hour Final Concert—Following the Starry Path—will be performed by 12 000 singers at the Mežaparks Open-Air Stage. Works by Latvia’s foremost professional choral composers make up the concert programme. |
7 July |
22.00 |
Great Dance Concert “Mara’s Country” Daugava Stadium
|
More than 18 000 dancers will tell the story of Latvia from the 12th to the 21st century through movement and dance creating a fascinating show of patterns, energy, rythms, and colours. |
8 July |
20.00 |
Closing Concert “Following the Starry Path”
Mežaparks Open-air Stage |
This three-hour Final Concert—Following the Starry Path—will be performed by 12 000 singers at the Mežaparks Open-Air Stage. Works by Latvia’s foremost professional choral composers make up the concert programme. |
8 July |
23.30 |
Sing Along Night
Mežaparks Open-air Stage |
Every five years, once the Final Concert has come to a close, the participants of the Song and Dance Celebration, the audience, and the festival coordinators all join together in song! This great joint choir sings the most beloved songs of the Latvian people until dawn breaks. It is an unforgettable event to which one and all are invited! |
29 June– 26 August |
Folk and Applied Art Exhibition “The Joy of Creation”
Riga Art Space Exhibition Hall |
This exhibition will be created integrating a number of different themes—the crafstmanship embeded in Latvian folk and applied arts, their variety, and the personal nature of this kind of art. The exhibition will be displayed using modern technological solutions, with an emphasis on interactivity. Enjoy this brethtaking journey through the heart of Latvian Folk and Applied Arts. Artists from Latvia’s Folk and Applied Arts studios, as well as individual working artists will participate in the exhibition. |