Just as weddings in Latgale, so city festivals are celebrated for three days. We only managed to enjoy one day of Ludza's festival programme, but otherwise rested, enjoyed ourselves, and swam to our hearts' content in the warm lake waters.
This Sunday, at the Čiekurkalns crossroads, under the care of the Čiekurkalns Development Society, the eighth harvest festival is taking place with the traditional homemade goods market and a historical tour of the neighbourhood.
I had always wondered, driving past, what that interesting building was, whose garden and very facade reminded me of Gaudí's artistic masterpieces in the Barcelona park - mosaics of small colourful tiles and pebbles, sculptures, ornate benches and pathways. As it turns out, it's a church.
On Wednesday, 2 March, we visited Latvia's 1st Rock Café to enjoy in person... a light-hearted debate between fresh-thinking people. The debate format: six speakers, three who agreed to defend the view that democracy has exhausted itself, and three who believe democracy is far from having exhausted itself.
There were quite a lot of LEGO cars here. Both those that had been painstakingly built and placed on the exhibition table, and the simpler ones with little motors that took part in drag racing and line-following competitions right there in the hall. But the most interesting and the main attraction for visitors was the large LEGO city.
One must agree with the lecturer's observation: if you look at a painting for one minute, you can notice only a pleasing composition or colours; if you look for five minutes, you already see the subject; but if for ten minutes - you can discern the conflict depicted in the painting.
A multimedia exhibition consisting of 9 large screens on which 100 paintings by Kristīne Luīze Avotiņa are projected in a set sequence, with 10 different musical fragments played to create the mood. A colour, sound, and light show repeated every 20 minutes, allowing one to experience four different moods, places in the world, seasons, and variations of tone.
This Sunday we spent an hour and a half exploring the work of 56 French artists. In total, 78 works are on display - paintings, photographs, installations, video and audio art objects. The works were created between 1992 and the present day. Some are especially striking.
Today all roads for many led straight to Ķīpsala, where in the two halls of the exhibition centre the eyes could feast on the latest achievements of Latvian design, while next door one could explore the range on offer in furniture, sanitary ware, lighting, and other useful items for home and office.
This year for Researchers' Night we headed to the newly opened University of Latvia Natural Sciences Academic Centre in Torņakalns at 1 Jelgava Street. Our interest was sparked not so much by the planned events or lectures as by the building itself and a tour of it.