WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN RIGA?

Riga Hostel recommends:

 

Every day at 12:00 Riga Free Tour from Saint Peter’s church - 3 hour alternative walking tour to discover the real Riga ;)

 

Riga Bicycle Tours everyday 12:00 and 15:00 from Town Hall square. Escape the Old Town and discover the real Riga. See the Moscow district, old cemeteries, parks, art nouveau, courtyards and much more. 10 LVL a person

Riga Zoo opened for visitors all year round

 

The Riga Zoo is open all year round, offering visitors to see remarkable animal collections - tigers, bears and giraffes, kangaroos and coatis, as well as the exhibits in the Tropical House. You can spend an entire day in the zoo, located in a picturesque area near Lake Ķīšezers.

Riga Zoo is a perfect place, especially in the summer, for picnics and unhurried observation of animals. In the dark winter months, the zoo is open on certain days so visitors could acquaint themselves with animals and birds in the wintertime - the magnificent snowy owls, the playful arctic foxes as well as other nocturnal animals. The spring is a time of songs and mating games, the young can be seen in the summer and how they are being schooled in the autumn, whereas in the winter, unless it is one of the special "Zoo Winter Nights", visitors can see indoor exhibits of the zoo.

If you wish to visit the Riga Zoo, the easiest way to get there is to board tram No. 11 and step off at the "Mežaparks" stop. As you enter the zoo, you are treated to the view of colourful flamingo flocks and the seals' aquarium. From here, you can choose one of the paths and go on to meet the other inhabitants of the zoo. One of the sections of the zoo features traditional domestic animals of Latvia - this is the only place in the zoo where you may and are even welcome to stroke the animals. An extensive area has been provided for the waterfowl, whereas birds of prey have a separate section of their own. The more exotic animals live near the periphery of the zoo - hippopotamuses leisurely repose on a terrace, giraffes live in a giraffe house of cosmic dimensions, and kangaroos can be seen nearby.

The visitors to the zoo are especially attracted to the agile lemurs and the curious meerkats. The tigers take little notice of the visitors, whereas the bears compete with each other trying to win the spectator's attention. The Riga Zoo reminds however that visitors must not feed the animals! Various reptiles and insects, alligators and crocodiles can be viewed in the Tropical House. The Riga Zoo also has an extensive collection of amphibians.

 

 

Egles Craft Fair

 

Latvian craft fair at the open-air leisure park "Egle", the largest open-air recreational venue in Riga's Old Town, offers the best from local craftsmen. Socks, mittens and scarves that are not only practical but also beautiful, linen table cloths and napkins, jewellery for girls and ladies, wooden household items and toys, and many, many other things can be bought at the "Egle" fair.

It also hosts performances by local musicians and offers delicious Latvian cuisine and best Latvian beer brands. If the bear is to your liking, you may also buy a unique beer jug - Latvian ceramics are well-known worldwide.

 

Fair at Kalnciems District

 

Each holiday, the restored wooden Kalnciema Street District holds a fair which is a new feature for old Pārdaugava. Fairs are great fun and pride to local folk, a place to meet neighbors.

"An event like this on one of the main roads to the heart of Riga is a positive signal to all those visiting Riga," say Kārlis and Mārtiņš Dambergs, owners of the district and devotees of renovating wooden buildings and authentic lifestyle. "Kalnciema District is like an eye-catching brooch on Riga's dress, and we are pleased at the opportunity to rub it." This brooch is especially bright on holiday.

 

 

Folk club ALA

Smilšu Street 16 (basement)

Every week & with free entrance

Mondays, Tuesdays – free microphone

Mondays: In Ala’s backyard – Latvian movie night

Wednesdays: Traditional folk dance night. Great opportunity to learn original Baltic state folk dances of 19^th and 20^th centuries. Local folk musicians are performing live all night long. 21:00

Thursdays: Traditional folk song night and communal singing. 21:00

Fridays, Saturday: Programme is changing every week - Please ask at reception for more details.

 

Ethnographic Open-Air Museum

Brivibas street 440
Tel. 6799 45 10, Fax 6799 41 78
opened 10:00 – 17:00

Authentic houses, farmsteads, windmills, wooden churches, and fishermen`s villages that represent different regions of Latvia of 16-19th centuries. Situated in a vast pine forest by the lake Jugla, it occupies an area of about 100 hectares. On weekends you can watch traditional craftsmen at work. The museum even has its own bee-farm and you can taste honey which is served with country bread and a special drink brewed from honey. An unforgettable experience that you should not miss! Count on spending an entire day here.

 

Museums & Exhibits:

Main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art

Riga, 10a K. Valdemāra Street

Only 1 LVL entrance fee Mondays

Closed only on Tuesdays

Opened rest of the week 11:00 – 17:00

(ticket desk 11:00 – 16:45)

 

Museum of Porcelain

Riga Old Town, 9/11 Kalēju street

Guided tours:

Booking in advance – phone 67012944

in Latvian LVL 4.00

in English LVL 6.00

 

KIM? Contemporary Art Centre

Spikeri, 12/1 Maskavas street
Wed, Fri 14:00 – 19:00
Thu 14:00 – 20:00
Sat, Sun 12:00 – 17:00
Mondays and Tuesdays closed
www.kim.lv

 

THE ART MUSEUM RIGA BOURSE

Riga, Doma Square N^o6

Closed only on Monday

Opened rest of the week 11:00 – 18:00

(ticket desk 11:00 – 17:45)

 

"Glasstress Riga. Works from Berengo Studio"
22/08/2011 - 08/12/2011

National Architectural Monument, Riga Stock Exchange was built in the 1855th year, reflecting Venetian Renaissance palazzo form. The new museum's opening exhibition was envisioned as a link between Venice and the cities of Riga - artists from all over the world have created works of contemporary art in Venice (Murano) glass of two exhibition halls at the same time - Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, Venice and the Museum of Art, "the Riga Stock Exchange".

 

 

"Oriental Porcelain and the Netherlands. Interaction between East and West in the 17th century"   
22/08/2011 - 04/12/2011

A unique exhibition of porcelain objects at the Riga Stock Exchange, the Museum of Foreign Art.

The exhibition, featuring about 130 exhibits, shows how the shapes and decorations of Oriental porcelain and Dutch Delftware influenced each other. In a broader sense, the exhibition illustrates an important aspect of the worldwide globalisation of trade and culture in the 17th century, in which the Netherlands played a central role and acted as the meeting place of East and West.

 

Latvian National Museum of History   

Address:
Riga, Pils laukums 3

Monday closed

Rest of the week opened 10:00 - 17:00

 

Soviet Everyday Design

20/05/2011 – 15/01/2012

The Latvian National History Museum is opening a new exhibition, entitled 'Soviet Everyday Design', offering an opportunity to return to the past to find out about design in the former Soviet Union and to rediscover decorative arts and Minimalism.

Covering the period between the 1950s and 1980s, the exhibition 'Soviet Everyday Design' presents a variety of household items produced and used in Latvia and the Soviet Union.

The exhibition presents an improvised Riga street with shops featuring constantly changing show-window display taking you through the decades and introducing the goods, packaging, fashion and accessories of the era. An authentic interior design of the 1950s and 1960s is also showcased.

The Latvian-made products have always had an original design. The 1950s-manufactured household items mostly featured exaggerated ornaments and Soviet symbols, along with traditional motifs and ornaments. The style was also influenced by the design of former periods and skills of old masters.

From the 1960s, manufactured objects were more developed by designers, featuring Modernism traits and new materials in fashion and design, as well as laconic shapes and minimal stylised decorations in household items. Show-window adornment was especially popular in Riga with the legendary "Sakta" among the museum's exhibits.

The wide range of the exhibited made-in-Latvia products includes equipment from the VEF and 'Riga Radio Factory', merchandise from the 'Riga Porcelain Factory' and 'Līvānu Glass', perfumery and cosmetics from 'Dzintars', chocolate from 'Laima', as well as photos of electric and diesel-engine trains, mopeds, and minibuses. The exhibition also presents clothing, accessories and the less-known souvenirs.

 

Arsenāls Exhibition Hall

Riga, 1 Torņa Street

Only 1 LVL entrance fee Tuesdays

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays 12:00 – 18:00 (ticket desk 12:00 – 17:45)
Thursdays 12:00 – 20:00 (ticket desk 12:00 – 19:45)
Saturdays, Sundays 12:00 – 17:00 (ticket desk 12:00 – 16:45)
Closed on Mondays

Saga: Botox

07/10/2011 – 20/11/2011

Karlis Vitols is one of the greatest provocateurs among the new generation of Latvian artists, who had a series of brilliant works of painting, graphics and animation. Karlis Vitols creativity inherent interest in the formal and Coin effects of painting, he often finds large-scale compositions.

 

Riga Now and Then

20/05/2011 – 20/11/2011

In the mid-13th century, Riga was protected by a fortification wall and towers, improved by a rampart and four bulwarks in the 16th century. The 1727-built Triangula Bastion was torn down in 1859 yet the 4-metre-high foundations were not touched and can still be seen. Today these are the only remnants of the 16th-18th century Riga wall.

The exhibition "Riga Now and Then" tells about the development of the Daugava riverside from the wooden bank protection to the stone walls, from dykes to fortifications. Located on the second and base floor, the exhibition features reproductions of historic engravings with Riga's panorama and introduces the city's history under Swedish, Polish-Saxon and tsarist Russian rule, and Riga's development as one of the biggest fortifications on the Baltic shores. 

 

Museum of Applied Arts and Design

Riga, 10/20 Skarnu street    

Mo, Tu, Th - Su 11:00 – 17:00 (ticket desk 11:00 – 16:45)
Wednesdays 11:00-19:00 (ticket desk 11:00 – 18:45)

Closed on Mondays

Exhibit "Make"

16/11/2011 - 27/11/2011

Through November 27 only, works on display from the international workshop "Make Design! Dutch Design Made in Latvia".
Master's degree students from Latvia and the Netherlands.

Exhibition centre "Riga Art Space",

entrance from 3 Kungu Street.

Working hours daily 10 a.m. - 7.00 p.m.

 

Nordic and Baltic Designers Events

06/10/2011 - 27/11/2011

Riga brings together Nordic and Baltic designers for a versatile programme of events at Riga Art Space.

Latvia Museum of Photography

Riga, 8 Mārstaļu street

We, Fr - Su 11:00 – 17:00
Wednesdays 11:00-19:00 (ticket desk 11:00 – 18:45)

Closed on Mondays & Tuesdays

 

Exhibition "Landscapes of Latvia"

10/11/2011 - 11/12/2011

   
Latvian landscapes by master of black and white landscapes Bruno Alsiņš at the Musuem of Photography.

Mostly taken between 1961 and 1964, the cycle "Daugava. Lost Values” shows numerous scene landscapes of the Daugava. They have both esthetic and historical value as most of them depict landscapes and places that are not possible to find in nature anymore.

The series "Landscapes of Latvia” consists of picturesque landscapes from Latvia - fields, medows, forests, lakes and other motifs.

Bruno Alsiņš was born in 1932. He started to practice photography around 1948/1949 by using an old Fotokor camera for plates and the contact-copying method.

He has participated in 450 exhibitions in Latvia and abroad and has succeeded in making 28 personal exhibitions in Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Germany, Spain, USA and elsewhere.

 

Concerts:

 

Impressions of Latvian Seasons

18:00 20/11/2011

Riga Dome Cathedral

 

Riga Professional Symphonic Band together with Riga chamber choir "Ave Sol" and soloists Sonora Vaice and Jānis Apeinis present music by Latvian composers Ādolfs Skulte and Ēriks Ešenvalds.

For the concert "Impressions of the Latvian Seasons", conductor Mārtiņš Ozoliņš has selected Ādolfs Skulte's "Svētku gājiens" (Festival Procession, 1972) and Ēriks Ešenvalds' cantata "Latvija. Gadalaiku impresijas" (Latvia. Impressions of the Seasons", 2008).

Participating in the concert: singers Sonora Vaice (soprano) and Jānis Apeinis (bass), Riga chamber choir "Ave Sol" and Riga Professional Symphonic Band.

Lyrics for the Impressions of the Latvian seasons contributed by Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš, Imants Ziedonis, Inese Zandere, Māra Zālīte and other Latvian poets.

Admittance by free invitations that can be received at Riga Cathedral's booking office from November 10.

Arte dei Suonatori. International Bach Chamber Music Festival

19:00 21/11/2011

Small Guild

 

Polish Baroque orchestra "Arte dei Suonatori" is slated to perform at the 11th International Bach Chamber Music Festival.

The orchestra was formed in the Polish city of Poznan in 1993 by violinists Ewa and Aureliusz Golinski, who gathered together a group of the most talented young Polish period-instrument performers.

The core of the ensemble was originally made up of Polish string and continuo players, but over the years the orchestra has become more international, featuring as regular members musicians from Germany, England, Holland, France, Ireland and other countries.

Price: LVL 3.00 - 7.00

 

Chamber Music Concert

15:00 26/11/2011

Latvian National Opera

 

The wonderful chamber ensemble Piano Trio Opera celebrates the 10th Anniversary and pays tribute to the eminent and original Latvian composer Artūrs Grīnups (1931 - 1989).

Participants: Latvian National Opera's Piano Trio - Svetlana Okuņa, Inga Sunepa, Juris Žvikovs. The Piano Trio will also perform compositions by Antonín Dvořák and Gaspar Cassadó.

Part I: Gaspar Cassadó, Trio in C Dur for Piano, Violin and Cello, Artūrs Grīnups (1931 -1989), Piano Trio

Part II: Antonín Dvořák, Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor "Dumky"

Price: LVL 4.00

St.Petersburg Mariinsky Orchestra Brass Ensemble (Russia)

19:00 27/11/2011

Great Guild

 

St.Petersburg Mariinsky Orchestra Brass Ensemble is slated to perform at the winter music festival Winterfest. Though established only a few years ago, in 2007, the ensemble astounds by its amazingly rich sound.

Programme - Shostakovich's Festive Overture, Borovin's Polovtsian Dances, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and other compositions.

The Mariinsky Brass consists of 14 musicians who are at the same time the principal players of the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, headed by Valery Gergiev. The ensemble has performed to critical acclaim in Japan, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and France, offering special performances during major tours by the Mariinsky Orchestra.

The ensemble boasts a broad repertoire, including Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps, also Bizet's Carmen Suite which was arranged for the ensemble by the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin. The ensemble continues to broaden its repertoire and there are plans later this

 

Price: LVL 5.00 -3.00

 

 

In clubs, bars and pubs: In most of the bars there are happy hours Check out www.club.lv

 

 

NabaKlab  www.nabaklab.lv (opens at 12:00)

19.11. COSMOBILE (Finland - indie), IKE CHIME (Finland - indie), LOST HARBOURS (UK - folk) 21:00

20.11. COSS-MOSS 2011 210 21:00

23.11. ENHET, EMERALD (Igaunija - hardcore), RE-ARMED (Somija - metal) 21:00

24.11. Soul power Dj Raitis 21:00

25.11. THE FICTIONPLAY (Austrija - indie rock), GASERATA, Allan Vainola & The Dreamcatchers (Igaunija - folk/jazz) 21:00

 

Dirty Deal (Spiķeri) www.dirtydeal.lv

21.11. CHRISTIAN GALARETTA (Peru – abstract, dark ambient), 20:00, entrance 2 LVL

25.11. SYNESTHESIA, 22:00

26.11. RIGGAJUNGLE, 21:30, entrance 2 LVL

 

Leningrad www.leningrad.lv (opens at 12:00)

19.11. DJ Ma.Be

24.11. Sold Out (Finland)

 

I love You! www.iloveyou.lv (opens at 16:00)

18.11. Forest of Sounds (Dj), 22:00, free entrance

19.11. RadarHotsound (Dj), 22:00, free entrance

24.11. No Depression – Whatever it means, 22:00, free entrance