As the event’s website explains, the White Night is “one night in the year when citizens are encouraged to experience a state of creative wakefulness, which will alter archaic notions of the environment and its cultural life.” Last year, some 42,000 people attended White Night events.
The underlying theme for this year’s White Night is “Light”. It was chosen to honour the UNESCO’s International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies.
The somewhat Francophile festival will host a dazzling array of culture and art projects of various genres, including cinema, performances, exhibitions, music, and poetry as well as interdisciplinary projects. Most of the events are conveniently located in or near the center of Rīga.
A number of events were submitted by local cafe, bookstore or exhibition hall owners, so you'll have the chance to explore these places well after closing hours. A few other locations have been added, such as Latvian National Library, and this year visitors are encouraged to visit the left bank of Daugava as many events have moved there.
Most events open at 18:00, and many of them will be open until 3 in the morning. Entrance is free everywhere.
The White Night coincides with the Poetry Days and the Homo Novus theater festival.
White Night program (English).
