XXVII Nationwide Song and XVII Dance Festival
The Song and Dance Celebration is the uppermost cultural masterpiece that has stood the test of time. It has become a nationally and internationally significant event which calls together and unites Latvians worldwide, bringing together generations and ethnicities.
From the first festival in 1873 with 1,000 singers, it has grown to a mighty movement: around 40,000 participants are preparing to take part in the XXVII Nationwide Latvian Song and XVII Dance Celebration. More than 1,600 arouos in Latvia and more than 100 elsewhere are preparing for the event.
To ensure that choir singers and dancers, musicians, decorative folk art creators, folklore groups and amateur theatre participants can take part in the Festival, there are five years of everyday, systematic work in the lead-up: rehearsals, constant preparation of repertoire, evaluations, competitions, exhibitions, seminars and concerts. And, every five years, they all flow from Latvia’s regions and small towns to Riga, becoming Latvia’s most powerful folk movement.
The XXVII Nationwide Latvian Song and XVII Dance Celebration, which marks the 150th year of the Song Festival tradition, will take place in Riga from the 30th June to the 9th July, 2023. During the week of the Celebration, 40,000 participants from 43 Latvian administrative regions, as well as other countries where Latvians maintain and develop the Song and Dance Celebration tradition, will come to Riga. Over ten days, they will take part in more than 60 events: choir, dance, wind band, kokle, folk music, vocal ensemble, folklore and other concerts; a Latvian folk costume exhibition; a folk craft art exhibition; and amateur theatre productions. Half a million visitors will be able to see the events in person (in free and ticketed events) - Latvia has a population of 1.96 million.
The culmination of the Celebration week is the Grand Finale Concert, called Kopa Augsup (Upward Together). It will be dedicated to 150 years of Song Festival tradition and will serve as a bridge to future Festivals. Mixed, women’s, men’s, senior, children’s and youth choirs, wind bands and kokle ensembles will resound at the Silver Grove stage, Mezaparks, under the leadership of experienced Chief Conductors and Honoured Chief Conductors, while dance groups will shimmer in the colours of Latvia’s regions.
Text as provided by the organiser(s).
