As the week progresses, we will guide you through each day's festivities. Tickets are still available to many of them and some events are free, so everyone has the opportunity to experience part of the magic. Tickets are available for purchase on bilesuparadize.lv's Song and Dance Festival section.
The events listed here are not exhaustive – we have picked out a selection of highlights.
In addition, you can watch performances live on LSM and find out more about the Song and Dance Festival's 150th anniversary at the official website.
12:00-20:00 'Power of Customs' minorities day (Vērmanes park and Esplanade)
Throughout the day, in Vērmanes Garden and Esplanade, every nationality and ethnic minority living in Latvia will have the opportunity to share their creations – a set of beliefs, habits and activities – traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation and are unique to each nation, highlighting those special units of cultural heritage that other nations do not have. characteristic or even known, as well as looking for a connection with the elements of Latvian folklore and tradition, which the nationalities living in Latvia associate as the closest to themselves. Both local and foreign Latvian and foreign artistic collectives will complement the festive mood.
A total of 87 minority artistic collectives will perform on four separate stages (folklore ensembles, authentic singing, traditional music, folk song, vocal, folklore and instrumental ensembles, folk dance collectives and ensembles, folk instrument orchestras, as well as choirs and amateur theater studio) and individual performers representing Slavic, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Belarusian, Kazakh, Bulgarian, Azerbaijani, Jewish, Roma (Gypsy), German and Lithuanian nationalities. Also, on the day of nations, you will be able to see and hear 5 foreign collectives from Germany, Ukraine, Italy and Finland, as well as 11 foreign Latvian collectives from Estonia, Luxembourg, Germany, Sweden, Brazil and Ireland.
18:00-19:30 Folk music concert “Three-Times-Nine Players” (Hanzas perons)
The Folk Music Concert is now a traditional Song Festival event, which features performers of various genres. In 2023, it will be dedicated to Latvian folk instruments and their skilled players today. “Three-Times-Nine Players” will focus on bagpipes, recorders, kokles, drums, violins and horns.
LIVE: LSM.lv
19:00-22:00 Kokle music concert 'River of Time' (Ķīpsala exhibition center)
The sound of Latvia's national instrument, the kokle, has always sounded alongside folk song, so the concert is based on the basic values of the folk song, nature and the kokle player and features compositions that show the versatility of the kokle's sound, playing pieces by Latvian composers of different times.
Almost 400 kokle players in three age groups, 4 chief conductors and guest artists of various musical genres will participate in the grand kokle concert. Tickets from EUR 15 to EUR 25.
LIVE: LSM.lv, LR3
20:00-23:30 Grand choral concert 'The Field. The Road of Song' (Mežaparks main stage)
In the one hundred and fiftieth year of the song festival tradition, a grand concert of choral music will be held in Mežaparks, highlighting folk songs as the beginning of choral singing. The choir will perform folk song arrangements and original compositions inspired by folk songs, and a cappella singing will be emphasised.
The grand concert program includes both the legacy of the previous song festivals and compositions that vividly express the Latvian identity, the freedom of the people, respect for the heritage of the ancestors, the search for the spiritual field and the revelations of the future.
We have a suspicion this could prove to be one of the highlights of the entire festival and tickets are still available, priced from EUR 15 to EUR 70.
LIVE: LTV1, LSM.lv, LR3
