The Valmiermuiža ethnomusic festival has announced the first artists – the local stage will be represented by “Jauno Jāņu orchestra”, the northern archaic feeling will be created by Norwegian dark folk, the powerful sound of Eastern Europe will be offered by Ukrainians, while musicians from Italy will bring hot-blooded rhythms (and, hopefully, the sun as well). The festival will take place on July 15 in Valmiermuiža park.
The theme of the 2023 Valmiera ethnomusic festival is “opposites attract” to highlight the desired – both in art, cuisine, architecture, landscape and human relations. “Opposites – not as irreconcilable contrasts, but as an opportunity to add colors, diversity and meaning to life,” says the festival’s organizing team. The lighting of the fire sculpture has become a tradition of the festival – this time the Spanish artist Jordi NN will be joined by an international creative team to create a completely magical and musical circus performance, revealing the opposites of static and movement, air and earth.
The musical program will be heard on two stages, so that you can alternately hear different local artists and guests from further afield.
Torgeir Vassvik’s band will travel from the far north to represent the ancient Sami people and their musical roots with an archaic and rock-concert sound. At the moment, the best tarantella group from Italy “Canconiere Grecanico Salentino” will get into a whirlwind of dance together with skilled Italian dancers. The musical fighting spirit will be shown by the folk rock group “Joryj Kloc” from Ukraine, which makes folk songs more modern by adding a powerful sound to them. On the other hand, the work of our “Young St. John’s Orchestra” is “characterized by human inner adventures and sweet irony, interspersed with the most ambiguous episodes of Latvian folklore.” At night, after the live music program, just like last year, the most resistant ones will have welcomed the ethnic duo – Diva Reiznieku and Kaspar Zaviļeiski, who will offer their favorite world music until the last dancer.
During the event, you will be able to see an open-air exhibition, a theater performance, the latest Latvian cinema, as well as participate in traditional master workshops, but recover your strength in calm and restless svilnėtava. Not far from the festival area, in the welcoming stable of Valmiermuiža, you will have the opportunity to pitch your own tent and spend the night.
