42 different objects across the city were part of the official program. As well as home-grown efforts, an international program of light installation artists included works from Lithuania, Canada, Japan, Australia, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, and Lebanon.
This year's event was the ninth Staro Riga, but the festival really took off in 2014, when Riga was a European Capital of Culture.
"Staro Rīga gives light to the thoughts and hearts of Rigans and all Latvian residents and now the festival has also become a talking point among international light installation artists," said festival curator Diāna Čivle.
A Riga City Council release said that people were watching online across the globe as well as standing in the streets with thousands of images posted with the #STARORIGA2016 hashtag and international viewers watching a TV channel dedicated to the event, 'Staro.tv'.
Šāgada #StaroRīga patīk labāk nekā pērn un aizpērn. Mani favorīti - viesnīca Rīga, Doma laukuma drūmie truši un lāzerdūmaizkars Esplanādē. pic.twitter.com/uXlwaeOtz2
— Kaspars Funts (@KFunts) November 17, 2016
The general consensus online was similar to the tweet above: this year's festival was the best yet.
Staro Riga has now established itself on the calendar and has become a tourist attraction as well as a way of adding brightness to a time of year that can be a bit dark and depressing.
More than 1,000 people also took part in a special night-time run through the city.
