August 16
Rīga Festival Restaurant
16.08. 13:00-17:00
Spīķeri square
At the “Rīga Festival Restaurant” event, approximately 15 of Rīga’s best restaurants and cafes will be operating simultaneously, so as to offer every visitor the chance to acquaint himself with and taste special foods prepared from local production.
There will be such popular Latvian chefs as Mārtiņš Rītiņš, Mārtiņš Sirmais, Ingmārs Ladigs, Māris Astičs, Valters Zirdziņš, and others. Each taste master will be working alongside with a local producer, from whose products the chefs prepare their unforgettable foods every day. During the event there will be various tastings and master classes, and visitors will be able to enjoy the musical performances of Laimis Rācenājs and Daumants Kalniņš, and take part in lotteries and other activities.
Taking part in the “Rīga Festival Restaurant” will be the restaurant “Vincents“, the three—chef restaurant “Tam labam būs augt“, “Burkāns“, “Dārzs“, “Valters restorāns“, “Ostas skati“, “Vairāk saules“, “Le Dome“, “Innocent café“, “Avalon“, “Muusu“, “KID” and others.
CREATIVE WORKSHOP “RAISE YOUR BRIDGE!”
16.08. 13:00-17:00
Spīķeru Square
In August 2014 “Latvijas dzelzceļš” (“Latvian Railway”) is marking its 95th anniversary, which it will celebrate together with visitors of Rīga Festival 2014.
At the creative workshop “Raise Your Bridge!” everyone will be able to create his or her own bridge — your own version of the Railway bridge or build your own individual miniature bridge. Everyone is welcome — from the littlest of children to greyhairs.
Visitors are also welcome to take a selfie with the Railway bridge and the “Gaismas pils” (“Castle of Light”) — Latvian National Library — in the background and post it on their “Facebook” or “Twitter” accounts with the hashtag #dzelzcelam95. Your smile just might end up being visible on the celebration wall that “Latvijas dzelzceļš” will make.
ESPENA—ĶEMERI EXHIBIT
16.08. 12:00-18:00
17.08. 12:00-18:00
At the “Kim?” contemporary arts centre, Maskavas iela 12
The exhibit “Espena — Ķemeri” draws a comparative parallel between America’s Aspen (Espena) and the former Latvian resort town of Ķemeri (Kemmern) by the sea, inviting artists, musicians, theoreticians, and viewers to a joint creative journey.
This imagined axis reveals today’s enthusiasm for metaphoric terms and ideas of space and time, and the dichotomy between places having cult status and places with the potential to acquire new meaning in this time saturated with designations of “post” and “neo”. Keeping in mind American conceptualism of the 1960’s to 1970’s, the exhibit “Espena — Ķemeri” has been prepared as an inquiring contribution to Latvia’ own version of “Ko — La” (“Conceptualism in Latvia”).
Taking part will be Kaspars Groševs, Ģirts Korps, Ieva Kraule, Rolands Kronlaks, Darja Melņikova, Laura Prikule, Mārtiņš Ratniks, Evita Vasiļjeva and Armands Zelčs.
Rīga Funk Fest music festival
16.08. 20:00-02:00
Spīķeri square
The Rīga Funk Fest music festival will assemble in one place groups performing funk music.
Every year the number of musicians and groups playing funk increases, as does the number of listeners who listen to it with pleasure. For this reason, the Wise Music Society team had the idea to assemble in one place groups playing funk at the Rīga Funk Fest music festival. Listeners will have the opportunity to enjoy a concert dedicated to a style of music fusing soul, jazz and rhythm and blues and that is filled with positive energy. Each group has found its own special approach to the funk style, demonstrating the multifaceted nature of this genre, connecting it with various other styles and experimenting with the sound of instruments.
The following groups will be performing at the Rīga Funk Fest music festival:
- 8:00 p. m. “FunCoolio”,
- 9:00 p. m. “O’Night Quartet”,
- 10:00 p. m. “Very Cool People”,
- 11:00 p. m. “Funk Therapy”,
- 12:00 a. m. “Pieneņu vīns“,
- 1:00 a. m. “Bunch of Gentlemen”.
August 17
“Among the machines, motors, girls” (M. Čaklais)
17.08. 12:00-18:00
Spīķeri square
On Sunday Spīķeri Quarter festive atmosphere will provide RTU students of technical creativity workshops. Riga Festival 2014 visitors will reveal the secrets of lithography and offer themselves to build a variety of engineering achievements – bridges, catapults, parachutes. Older children will be able to participate in the boat, aircraft and windmill workshops, as well as the robot fighting tournament.
Performances and musical program:
12:10 Edavārdi
12:30 DJ show
13:25 RTU cheerleader show
13:40 Hip-hop dance and breakdance competitions
14:25 NIKLAVZ and GreenTrial show
14:55 Chemistry and physics demonstration show
15:10 Edavārdi
15:30 RTU cheerleader show
15:50 Group “Laime pilnīga”
16:40 Chemistry and physics demonstration show
17:00 NIKLAVZ and GreenTrial show
17:30 Miks Dukurs with a group
THEATRE PERFORMANCE FOR CHILDREN “HOW THE SUN CAME TO BE”
17.08. 12:00-13:00
Spīķeri, Maskavas street 4
At the performance “How the Sun Came to be”, using Latvian folk tales, kitchen implements and foodstuffs, actors with the help of children will uncover wonders about how the earth, sun, moon, stars, water and people came about. Actors — Lauma Balode and Kaspars Aniņš.
Director Inga Tropa: “The idea for the performance came about while I was working in the kitchen with my son. Everyday things can turn into an inspiring game, simultaneously providing an opportunity to learn new skills and acquire knowledge in a creative and unforced way. In order to make children happy, expensive toys are not necessarily needed.” From the cookie dough that will be made together, kids will have the chance to reconstruct and taste their impressions.
GARDEN ORIGAMI AND TRANSFORMATION IN CREATIVE WORKSHOPS FOR KIDS
17.08. 13:00-17:00
Restaurant “Dārzs”, Spīķeri, Maskavas iela 4
At this event the opportunity to create origami will be open to both children and adults.
Representatives of the creative workshop “Field” (“Pļava“) will be awaiting children and adults to the origami and transformation workshop in order to create decorations and decors from various everyday materials. At this activity one will be able to make ornaments — necklaces, bracelet pendants, as well as colourful balls from napkins. The very smallest visitors will be able to paint and draw.
3D Bridges creative workshops
17.08. 12:00-18:00
In the “Spīķeri quarter”, by Maskavas iela 12, building 3
The “Innovation Laboratory” being created in the “RIXC” new media cultural centre will be offering special 3D Bridges creative workshops.
3D printing is a new technology with the help of which in the future we will be able to alter the design of everyday objects. This means we will not be purchasing unified, mass—produced goods, but will ourselves be digitally drafting and printing “real” items (dishes and chairs), as well as toys (toy blocks and construction sets).
Under the guidance of the artists of the 3D Bridges creative workshops, the idea of a bridge as a connection between various opposites — art and science, creativity and technologies, the natural and the artificial, country and city, past and future, centre and outskirts — will be played upon. Together with the artists, participants will be able to model (draft or form) their bridge to the future and print out miniature three—dimensional models, which will afterwards be displayed for public viewing in the Cafe Europa container in the “Spīķeri quarter”.
More information about Riga Festival 2014 events here!