Year 2018 will be significant for Latvia as around 40 000 participants will gather in our capital Riga for the XXVI Song and XVI Dance Celebration. The tradition of the Festival goes back for 140 years and in 2003 together with Lithuanian and Estonian Song and Dance tradition it was recorded in the UNESCO list.
Arrival in Riga, meeting and transfer to the hotel, check in.
Overnight stay in Riga.
Breakfast at the hotel.
09:00-12:00 Morning Riga guided tour including famous Art Nouveau streets in Riga City Centre.
During the guided tour of Riga Old Town you will see Riga Dome Cathedral, construction of which started in the 13th century, Gothic style St. Peter’s Church, St. Jacob’s Cathedral which houses the Seat of the Roman Catholic Church, St. George’s Church, called the White Stone Palace, the beautiful Synagogue of Old Riga, the yard of the Convent of the Holy Spirit, the Dannenstern House, the complex of residential houses “The Three Brothers”, Riga Castle, The Large and the Small Guild, as well as the reconstructed House of the Blackheads recall the Hanseatic times, Latvian National Opera and many other impressive sights of Riga.
Organ Music Concert at the Dome Cathedral.
Optional evening visit of Kokle Concert "Play, Brother! Play, Sister!" at the Dailes Theatre Great Hall or Latvian Traditional Costume Show at the The Palladium Concert Hall or Latvian Vocal Symphony Music Concert at Arena Riga.
Overnight stay in Riga.
Breakfast at the hotel.
09:00-15:00 Guided Sigulda & Turaida sightseeing tour.
On this day you will be carried away by history. Since the time when the tribes of Balts and Livs fought with the German crusaders, Sigulda has boasted of exciting legends and mighty castles, which are situated in the distance of a cannon shot from each other. During the guided tour we will visit Turaida Museum Reserve including its Medieval Castle, the Gutmans Cave which is the most popular and vast cave in Latvia, a cultural and historical landmark Sigulda castle ruins and New Sigulda Castle, Krimulda Medieval castle and Manor.
22:00 Optional evening visit to the Great Dance Concert "Mara’s Country" at the Stadium Daugava.
Overnight stay in Riga.
Breakfast at the hotel.
10:00-16:00 Guided sightseeing tour to Riga Open Air Museum where you will see different folklore performances included in the programme of Latvian Song and Dance Celebration.
Today you visit one of the oldest and largest open-air museums in Europe - Latvian Open-Air Ethnographic Museum in Riga. In the museum are 118 old buildings from all historical districts of Latvia – Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale and Latgale – built from the end of the 17th century up to the second half of the 1930s. Farmsteads of Latvian farmers, craftsmen, and fishermen have been created in the museum. They all house the permanent exhibition – household and working tools, interior furnishings – which characterises the time period, the district, and the owners’ vocation. The farmsteads of Liv fishermen from Kurzeme and Russian Old Believers from Latgale are also open to visitors.
22:00 Optional evening visit to the Large Dance Concert "Mara’s Country" at the Stadium Daugava.
Overnight stay in Riga.
Breakfast at the hotel.
09:00-15:00 Guided Rundale Palace sightseeing tour.
Today we head to the Rundale Palace ensamble, which is one of the most outstanding monuments of Baroque and Rococo architecture in Latvia. It was built between 1736 and 1740 as a summer residence for Ernst Johann Biron, Duke of Courland and a favourite of the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna. The Palace park spreads out to the south of the palace, and Bartolomeo Rastrelli designed it together with the palace building.
20:00 Optional evening visit to the Grand concert: The Closing Concert "Following the Starry Path" - Night of everybody meeting in a song at the Grand Stage at Mezaparks.
Overnight stay in Riga.
Breakfast at the hotel, check out.
Departure transfer to Riga airport.
