Let’s talk, laugh, listen, look, dance, think, walk, ride, run, drive, be proud, make, eat and have fun! Let’s enjoy!
See you on my 739th birthday! Let’s go on a festive date on the 22nd–24th of July!
Your Valmiera
Let’s listen!
On July 18th, turn on the birthday radio on the website valmierasvin.lv! It will play throughout the festive week, from July 18 to 24, playing both songs especially suitable for the birthday and telling what to expect during the festivities. On July 22 and 23, the festivities studio will be not only on radio waves, but also on-site in the centre of Valmiera, where Uģis Melders and Sanda Dejus will go live on the radio.
On July 22 at 20.00 we invite you to a harmonious date! In the Dīvaliņa meadows, several groups and musicians known in Latvia will take the stage of “Harmony in the Open Air”: Kaut Kaili, Franco Franco, Chris Noah, Rīgas modes, and Rolands Če. The evening will continue with musical enjoyment until 1.45 and Vinda Street Food will offer delicious dishes until 2.00.
On July 22 at 20.00, we meet at the central stage in the square near the Valmiera Culture Centre. Let’s ring in the festivities by singing with the chamber choir “Cats”. And then at 21.00 we will meet the Lithuanian singer and songwriter Ignas Pociūnas, better known as Daddy Was a Milkman! He is one of the few Lithuanian artists, who has gained recognition not only in his country. The musician also has a joint track “This Is How I Feel” with the band Prāta Vētra. The Daddy Was A Milkman hit “Breathe In” is often heard on radio stations.
While on Friday evening at 22.30 the meeting place is the party together with Bermudu divstūris and then DJ ALEXX REA.
Have you ever experienced waking up to live music? On the Saturday morning of Valmiera’s birthday, the Yamaha school together with Sanda Dejus and Uģis Melders will help you wake up. The sounds of the special alarm clock will move through the streets of Valmiera and stop in different yards. It will be loud!
See you at the central stage also on July 23 at 20.00 to dance to different music rhythms and get to know the new Latvian musician BŪŪ! In her music, she talks about equality, self-care, empathy and other socially relevant topics. Doing it with ease and being a bit crazy, she can make the audience stand up and move.
And from 21.20 we meet with Ģirts Rozentāls or Ozols – one of the founders of Latvian hip-hop music. Will we hear something from the albums “Respect and Love” and “Higher, Farther, Stronger” that received the status of Golden Disc – we will find out in person.
And around 22.45 we will meet with the legendary Latvian electronic rock group Jumprava. Every performance is a pleasure for the soul for fans of Jumprava music. In celebration of the band’s 35th anniversary, a film by director and band member Aigars Grauba “Jumprava: The Big Event” is being filmed currently, with the filming also taking place in Valmiera where the origins of the group can be traced. We will welcome the dawn at the party together with the group Ballīšu Orķestris.
On July 23, at 12.00–13.00, we invite you to a meeting with the teachers of the Valmiera Music School, who have prepared a special program on the theme of a festive date, in Vecpuišu Park. The concert will feature both instrumental music and singing. The teachers have created ensembles and associations. There will be surprises!
At the end of Valmiera’s birthday, on July 24 at 13.00 a beautiful organ music concert will be played in Valmiera’s St. Simon Church. Musicians Ilona Birģele, organ, and Armands Alksnis, electric guitar, will perform.
While at 14.00 we will meet musicians Kārli Kazāks and Kaspars Tobis at the Valmiera Gauja tram port. At the port of peace we will hear the wonderful collaboration of musicians – compositions from the album “Outplayed” and the song “Overwintering”.
Lets be proud!
Traditionally, on Valmiera’s birthday, a festive march “Valmiera is Proud” takes place It has a new meeting place this year – we will gather on Limbažu Street on July 22 from 18.00 to 19.00. The festive march will lead to St. Simon Church in Valmiera. We invite everyone who calls Valmiera their city – companies, institutions, associations, like-minded people, as well as parents of babies born this year and last year with their offspring – to apply for participation in the festive march by July 11 by filling out an electronic application form available on the Valmiera municipality council website www.valmierasnovads.lv, Valmiera Culture Centre website www.vkc.lv and valmierasvin.lv.
Let’s have a look!
On July 21–24, we invite you to a movie date in Vecpuišu Park and the Gaisma Cinema. There will be films that the youngest viewers will like, there will be romantic comedies, science fiction, drama, comedies, musicals – everyone will find something that suits their taste. It is worth mentioning that there will be an opportunity to enjoy not only popcorn, which is so suitable for the cinema, but also the Latvian steak club will visit Valmiera with its offer.
On July 23 at 14.00 in Vecpuišu Park, the curtain will be drawn on the Volatus contemporary theatre performance – the musical “Tangled in Love”. It is a story about a young couple, slightly based on the events of the movie “Mamma Mia”, depicting them in a Latvian style.
We invite you to take a walk and see the exhibition “Discover the Oldest History of Valmiera!”. It will take you to important historical objects of Valmiera: the castle, church, old market square, city wall. In each place, there will be an encounter with a story that will allow you to see the history of Valmiera in a new, unusual light.
Let’s explore!
On July 22 at 16.00 in the herb garden of the Valmiera Museum, we will open the “K.O.P.Ā” (“Together”) exhibition of environmental and plant installations, which will be open to everyone at any time of the day. And at 17.00 we invite you to a meeting with the herbal expert Zeltīte Kaviere. The presence of nature is as necessary as air, submerging yourself in a giant forest, a flower meadow, creating harmony with nature in your backyard garden. Balcony and terrace gardens are being installed more and more often, giving you the opportunity to enjoy what is not within reach in the city In the second talking series “One Sip of Health” with the herbal expert Zeltīte Kaviere in the garden of medicinal plants and herbs of the Valmiera Museum, we will continue the stories we started about the plants around us.
We will find out what the artisans and home producers will offer at the Valmiera birthday fair on July 23 from 9.00 until 16.00. This year, the meeting will take place in a new location – the hustle and bustle of the fair will take over the centre of Valmiera – Riga Street. Traders are invited to apply for participation in the market by July 4, by filling out an electronic application form.
If you go to the nearby Vecpuišu Park, you will find yourself in the design market. On July 23 from 10:00 to 16.00 there will be original and high-quality clothes, bags, jewellery, interior goods on offer. If you are a creative person and want to participate in the design market with your creations, fill out the application form here!
Let’s enjoy!
On July 22 and 23 from 22.00 to 1.00, Dzirnavu Lake invites the residents of Valmiera and city guests to a romantic meeting. It will glow in the dark in a dynamic story of two lovers meeting – an audiovisual installation and a large-scale projection on a water screen. The project is implemented by the creative associations White on Black and Artistic.
On July 23 from 12.00 to 20.00 there will also be a photo corner by Dzirnavu Lake, inviting everyone to capture their festive date by taking a photo individually, together with their loved ones or, on the contrary, with a newly met passer-by.
A special event is expected on July 23 at Krāču kakta Šķūnis – from 16.30 to 18.00 there will be a meeting game led by Uģis Melders.
Let’s dance!
If you enjoy Schlager and ball music, let’s meet on July 23 in Vecpuišu Park. Happy, a little stunned by the summer flowers, we will dance to the beloved music together with the groups Lustīgais blumīzers, Lauku Muzikanti, and Rumbas kvartets.
Let’s think!
The exhibition “Sabotage II” opens on June 22 at 16.00 in the Valmiera Museum. In the exhibition, Klāvs Loris will continue his personal reflection on his role in society and the society around him. In the paintings, internal state of mind is captured with the help of metaphors and philosophical concepts. The painter constantly experiments with techniques, combining classic oil painting with more modern media and materials. During these experiments, he has developed his own technique, which combines photography, digital printing and classical painting.
On July 22–24 in the new contemporary art space “Kurtuve” (former boiler house at Rīgas street 25), Valters Poļaks’ emotionally bright and thought-provoking exhibition “Born to Belong?” will be displayed. These are photo stories about people with mental disorders, supplemented by their insights about life and values, about good and evil. The creators of the exhibition – photographer Valters Poļakovs and the author of the idea Pēteris Martukāns – highlight the belief that we are different and yet so similar.
On the evenings of July 23 and 24 the Latvian documentary film about compassion and humanity “Hekabe’s Question” will be shown in Kurtuve. Directors Pēteris Krilovs and Iveta Budreviča invite you to learn the story of musician Rolands Ūdris and his wife Ilona Balode about their hopes for recovery. Everyone is invited to participate in the donation campaign “For the Green Oasis of Ūdrītis (Līdzskaņa Foundation).
“Visages Villages” (“Faces, Villages”), a documentary portrait of people and places by Agnes Varda, also can be seen in Kurtuve – an opportunity to follow the artist, director Varda and photographer JR, or Jean René, to the French countryside, capturing the people and stories they meet in photographs. This is how they invite us to see the extraordinary everyday, the beautiful in grey, the individual in the mass.
Cinema Kurtuve is organised in cooperation with the Valmiermuiža cultural society.
Let’s do!
During the week of Valmiera’s birthday festivities, from July 18 to 21, the co-creation workshop DARE (Purva Street 12) invites everyone to bring with them a cotton shirt or bag and to create a festivity print with the birthday theme “Festive Date” for free. Registration for the workshop is mandatory by filling out the form electronically here. While during the festivities, from July 22 to 24, we meet with DARE and print the T-shirts we brought with us at the Hansa House.
On July 23 from from 12.00 to 16.00 we invite you to experience the joy of life during family and creative activities in the garden of the Vinda Valmiera Youth Centre. Good miracles can happen with the “Forest of Miracles”, there will be inflatable attractions, as well as “The Little Captain” with water attractions. A magical mood will be created by the illusionist Edžus, who will show the impossible and surprise with various tricks. Also, a train will go on the route from Upes Street along the streets of Valmiera. While the band Notiņas will provide a great musical mood, inviting you to a music disc presentation. It should be mentioned that there will be an opportunity to enjoy various Vinda Street Food delicacies.
From July 21 to 24, Annels Amusement Park will be operating in Vienības Square.
In order for good thoughts to have even more opportunities to come true, we invite you to participate in the Charity Ball Rally of the Valmiera Municipality Foundation. By purchasing at least one ticket, the number of which will be carried by a coloured ball in an exciting race through the rapids of Gauja, not only financial support will be given so that fellow citizens can implement ideas important to society, but it will also be an opportunity to receive one of the prizes prepared by local entrepreneurs. We will meet at the charity ball rally on July 23 at 18.00 in Kazu krāces.
Let’s move!
On July 22, on the square by the Hanza Wall, you will have the opportunity to meet and go riding with the horses of the Valmiermuiža Stable.
On July 22, from 18.00 to 21.00, at the Krāces rowing base, we invite you to a date on the water – free water activities, SUP boards, sports and tourist boats for trips in Gauja will be available.
On July 23 from 14.00 to 17.00 (start at the Valmiera Tourist Information Centre) go on foot or by bike to the Gauja Banks bingo activity – great exercise and tasks that will invite you to see Valmiera and possibly learn new things about the city.
Have you had time to try out the new sports and active recreation park “Forest”? On Valmiera’s birthday, Sunday, July 24, at 10.00, we invite you to meet in Forest in the city centre to check how quickly it is possible to pass through the park with various non-motorised means of transportation. Both the youngsters with balance bikes and others who prefer bicycles, roller skates, skateboards or scooters are invited to participate.
On July 24 at 11.00 (start in Vecpuišu Park) we invite both young and old to join Valmiera’s 739th birthday family bike ride. A little more than six kilometres long, together with tourism enthusiast Karīna Bērziņa, we will ride through some of the most beautiful places in Valmiera and at the end of the bike ride, we will go on an excursion – we will see the rebuilt Jānis Daliņš Stadium and the new athletics arena.
On July 24, we invite you to get acquainted or try again with rogaining – teams (2–5 people) orienteering – looking for checkpoints in Valmiera. At 11.00 runners and walkers will start at Valmiera Music School, and at 11.15 – cyclists. Participation is free, but please apply in advance by July 19 at 23.59 here or by sending e-mail to [email protected].
On the other hand, anyone who wants to learn more about disc golf and see athletes in action is invited to visit the disc golf competition “Innova Baltic Tour Valmiera Open” in Pauku priedes on July 22–24.
Let’s eat!
After a good exercise, you need to eat well to restore strength.
On July 22 at 18.00–22.00 gourmets are invited to meet in Vecpuišu Park. There will be a creative, fun, entertaining event called “Taste Battle”. Five high-class and internationally acclaimed chefs will share their experience, compete, judge, taste and together create the longest sandwich in town. Under the guidance of Valters Krauze, those present will have the opportunity to learn more about the traditional dishes of different countries, there will be tastings, master classes, advice from sommeliers, stories from chefs and sharing of funny incidents. Of course everyone is invited to add to their collection of recipes, there will be contests and valuable prizes.
On July 22 already from 18.00, in preparation for “Harmony in the Open Air”, the smell of freshly baked waffles will be felt in the Dīvaliņa meadows and Vinda Street Food will be held for the second year with a wide range of popular dishes, also discoveries of new flavors are expected this year.
Tourism and catering companies from Valmiera will also take care of Valmiera’s birthday feast. The chefs are determined to prepare an offer in the theme of a festive date and meeting. We will find out these delicacies, and how they taste, smell, and look during the holidays when we visit the catering companies.
See programs on the website valmierasvin.lv.
The information was prepared by: Zane Bulmeistare, Valmiera Municipality Council, Branding and Public Relations Department Deputy Head, Phone 26443410
