XXVII Latvian Song and XVII Dance Festival

Since the first festival in 1873 with 1000 singers, they have grown into a powerful movement - the XXVII General Song and XVII Dance Festival is expected to involve around 40,000 participants. More than 1600 collectives in Latvia and over 100 in other countries are preparing for the festival.

To enable choir singers and dancers, musicians, folk artisans, folklore groups, and amateur theater participants to participate in the festival, a systematic daily work of rehearsals, continuous preparation of repertoire, shows, competitions, exhibitions, seminars, and concerts takes place over a period of five years. And then, every five years, they all come together from Latvian villages and small towns in Riga, becoming the most powerful movement of the people.

The tradition of the Song and Dance Festival has made a significant contribution to the formation of the Latvian nation's self-awareness and the maintenance of the idea of an independent state for the Latvian people in difficult periods of history, which is also recognized at the international level. In 2003, the Song and Dance Festival was included in the UNESCO Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity list.

The XXVII General Latvian Song and XVII Dance Festival in 2023 The 150-year tradition of the Song Festival will culminate in the upcoming XXVII General Latvian Song and XVII Dance Festival, which will take place in Riga from June 30 to July 9, 2023. The festival week is the culmination of a preparation process that began immediately after the previous XXVI General Latvian Song and XVI Dance Festival.

During the festival week in Riga, 40,000 participants from 43 Latvian municipalities and other countries where Latvians maintain and develop the tradition of the Song and Dance Festival will arrive. In ten days, they will participate in more than 60 events - concerts of choirs, dances, wind orchestras, kokle, folk music, vocal ensembles, folklore groups, and others, as well as a Latvian folk costume show, folk art exhibition, and amateur theater performances. The festival will be attended by 500,000 visitors (the population of Latvia is 1.96 million) in on-site (paid and free) events.