All set for Rīga city festival this weekend?

A full itinerary of entertainments, inducements and diversions is on offer, full details of which you can find at the official website, which is available in Latvian, Russian, English and German.

There are downloadable maps and booklets to help you plan your days, and printed versions will be freely available too at stands across the city.

This being Latvia, song and dance is inevitably to the fore, while the craftsman's market and free concert programs are always a hit with visitors. Anyone of a literary bent will want to head for the book fair in Vērmanes Garden Park.

Artists from Lithuania, Estonia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Taiwan, Spain, Korea and Sweden will perform at the Festival.

There are also several dedicated kids' events and family friendly events, so take the whole family and have a great weekend in our great city!

On Friday, August 17th, Riga City Festival 2018 — the celebration of the city’s 817th birthday — will begin with the concert “Era and Music” at Vērmanes Garden Park and the evening of songs by Imants Kalniņš at Grīziņkalns, the concert cycle “Song Bridges” and the light show “The Story of Water in the Moonlight”. During the three days of celebration Riga’s inhabitants and city guests are invited to visit the diverse programme of events at 11. novembra krastmala and Vērmanes Garden Park, in cultural institutions, parks and squares, in the city centre and the neighborhoods.

On August 18th and 19th parking and all public transport (except minibuses and night buses) will be free. In order to ensure that all visitors and participants get to the Festival's events comfortably, certain changes in public transportation routes and additional run times will be added, according to the city council.

The paid parking lots that are serviced by "Rīgas satiksme", will be free of charge on August 18th and 19th, with the exception of the underground parking lot at Krišjāņa Valdemāra Street 5a next to the Riga Congress Hall — there will be a charge for parking there in accordance with the applicable tariffs. Please check carefully whether you are in a free lot or not.