Event Guide

ESTONIA

September 01 – October 29, Tallinn Photomonth 2017, 

Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn

Tallinn Photomonth is an artist led biennial of contemporary art and visual culture. Although started in 2011 by a group of artists working primarily with photography and video, the biennial has never been a narrowly media-based event – it looks more broadly at developments in art and society in a world mediated by cameras, screens and images. The 4th Tallinn Photomonth will start on 1 September 2017 with the opening of an exhibition curated by Anthea Buys at Tallinn Art Hall. Included in the main program are exhibitions opening throughout September and October at different art venues and the country’s first and only contemporary art fair The Photographic Art Fair. This year’s fair introduces the works of 41 artists, five galleries and five project spaces. It is possible to purchase artworks and complement one's personal art collection at the fair. A satellite program will run in Tallinn’s public and commercial galleries. The central component of Photomonth is its public and educational program highlighting connections between exhibitions and expanding topics relevant to the program. Public events include lectures, book launches, artist talks, guided tours, workshops and an educational program for schools. Please go to www.fotokuu.ee to get more information.

 

September 04-10, Saaremaa Food Festival, Saaremaa Island

The heart of the summer is over by September, but Saaremaa continues to smile invitingly and deliciously to all. Clean air and sea breeze – especially at the beginning of September, when Saaremaa Food Festival takes place. Born in 2014, Saaremaa Food Festival offers a fascinating program for a whole week, welcoming all visitors to participate. Great local flavors are mixed together, bringing great food closer to local residents and introducing the food culture of the county to a wider public. Learn more about the festival and the program at the official web site http://www.saaremaatoidufestival.ee/en/

 

September 05-09, Estonian Theatre 

Festival Draama 2017, Tartu

Draama will take over Tartu once again at the beginning of September. The Estonian Theatre Festival Draama is a curator festival. The main program consists of the most interesting and the best productions of Estonian Theatre. In addition to the main program, the festival offers exciting side-program, music events and an opportunity to spend time in the cozy festival club. All official info on the festival is available at www.draama.ee

 

Open till September 17, Exhibition of Estonian Contemporary Graphics, Tartu Art House, Tartu

Estonian printmakers’ group exhibition “Beyond Reality” will remain open in the large and small galleries of the Tartu Art House until September 17. "Beyond Reality" offers the possibility to discover this "world" from the viewpoint of contemporary printmakers: they often dismantle the visual whole into various layers that are then re-compiled into a new combination or are left dysfunctional on purpose. This exhibition is not based on precisely defined technical boundaries, which means that the artists can expand two-dimensional graphics through other different dimensions. The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. Learn more about the exhibition at www.kunstimaja.ee

 

Open till September 17, Viljandi Art Festival “QQ”, Viljandi County, Viljandi

Viljandi Art Festival QQ (the Estonian way to pronounce QQ is /kukuu:/ which is an abbreviation from KUnstiKUU – the month of art) will be held for the first time, and its goal is to create an international activity platform and meeting place bridging and involving different fields of art. Within one month, from August 18 until September 17, the small town of Viljandi becomes a canvas and exhibition site for international artists – cultural events and interactive activities take place every day: joint youth art performances, street art sessions, sound performances, installations in an urban space, art circus, light installation and light sculptures, environmental art, café exhibitions, open-house art exhibitions and gallery exhibitions, as well as outdoor cinema, poetry slam, dance performances, concerts, and guided walks in town. Viljandi offers a unique small-town atmosphere for foreign visitors, and the organizers believe it to be an ideal place for international cultural cooperation, synergy between artists and new innovative perspectives to emerge. The participation of foreign artists brings novelty and excitement, unexpected angles and development potentials into the perception of the small-town milieu. To find out more about the festival, please visit http://qq.viljandi.ee or email at [email protected] 

 

September 23-24, Japanese Pop-Culture Festival AniMatsuri 2017, Tartu

AniMatsuri is a festival mainly targeted towards youth interested in Japanese culture. The emphasis is on Japanese pop culture, including, anime, manga (comics produced in Japan), music, computer games, fashion, etc. In two days, the visitors have the opportunity to participate in various workshops, listen to presentations, play computer or board games, compete in a number of contests, communicate with people sharing the same interests, and much more. The organizer of AniMatsuri is the NPO Japanese Culture Club Asashio founded in 2005 in Tartu. More info on the festival can be found at the official homepage: www.animatsuri.eu

 

September 25 – October 01, 12th Tallinn Design Festival, Tallinn

Tallinn Design Festival is a significant annual event demonstrating the achievements of designers of Estonia and other countries, but also the mindset of the design community. The program of the 12th Tallinn Design Festival concentrates on design culture. The venues of the festival have often been neglected pearls of architecture becoming the favorites of the public afterwards. The creative vitality of the city is assured by an intensive program of satellites. Among the partners there, beside designers, are both start-up and experienced organizations, manufacturers, educational institutions and other establishments. In the collectively composed festival program, one can find formats going deeper into the design world, cultural and entertaining events and initiatives promoting design trade. Go to www.disainioo.ee for additional information.

 

LATVIA

 

September 02, Kauguri Autumn Festival 2017, Kauguri, Jurmala

The annual Kauguri Autumn Festival will celebrate the end of the summer season on September 2 this year. Thus, Jurmala continues its tradition to celebrate the end of summer with the glorious Kauguri Autumn Festival. Kauguri Autumn Festival will present a day-long schedule with various cultural events and entertainment activities, as well as a grand gala concert in the evening. To find out more about the festival go to www.visitjurmala.lv 

 

September 03, The Crafts Day, Day of Games and Playing, Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum, Riga

Every year in September, this event gathers craftsmen from all parts of Latvia – blacksmiths, potters, carpenters, wicker-work craftsmen and weavers. Both masters and apprentices arrive at the museum to demonstrate their masterpieces, inviting both big and small to participate, and also try out ancient tools. At the beginning of the new school year, the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia invites children and their parents to enjoy games and playing. Children and adults are offered to try ancient wooden games and toys. Competitions, relays and games, led by a folklore band will be held in all farmsteads of the museum. Learn more at www.brivdabasmuzejs.lv 

 

September 06-09, Riga Food Fair 2017, Kipsala International Exposition Centre, Riga

Every year the biggest fair in the Baltic food industry, Riga Food, outlines the trends of the food industry development, highlights novelties and presents a number of serious and trustable enterprises. Everybody is welcome to the Riga Food fair to draw inspiration from diversity of menu ideas, to taste new products as well as to see professional chef, pastry cook and bartender competitions. Professionals are also invited to derive ideas, knowledge and information for their further professional and business development. For full information please visit www.rigafood.com 

 

September 08-27, Conceptual Jewelry Exhibition Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - Jewelry is Not Only Jewelry, Putti Art Gallery, Riga

There are many misunderstandings in the common meaning of jewelry and in the thinking of what jewelry should be. On the border of kitsch and consume Réka Lörincz from Budapest (HU) and Gisbert Stach from Munich (DE) show a colorful kaleidoscope of jewelry, objects, installations and films where they try to define and enlighten the field of jewelry in a new humoristic, critical and philosophical way. The admission to the exhibition is free. To find out more please go to www.putti.lv 

 

September 09, Modern Arts Forum White Night 2017, various venues in Riga

White Night is a modern urban culture forum – one night a year locals and tourists are invited to enjoy a vigil creativity aimed to change their perception of environment and cultural life. This is a chance to purposefully experience something extraordinary and be involved in various activities offered by artists. The modern culture forum White Night 2017 in Riga is scheduled for the night of 9 September and 10 September, offering 59 various contemporary art and cultural events in Riga. For the 12th time, White Night has become a welcome and integral part of Riga’s cultural calendar and takes place at the beginning of September each year. The White Night program will include 34 culture and art projects, including concerts, installations and performances in an urban environment, exhibitions, multimedia projects, poetry readings and movie programs. 25 initiative projects will add up to the program organized by art galleries, cafes, art and culture studies and other active inhabitants of Riga and like-minded people. This year, White Night is especially festive – it has been 15 years since the first White Night or Nuit Blanche in Paris where the idea of this forum was born. Therefore, this year, Riga offers an especially wide international program. All White Night events can be attended free of charge and are hosted in different parts of the city. The most active locations this year are in and near the Spikeri Quarter, the Old Town, Miera street, the active centre of Riga, as well as the left bank of River Daugava. Find out more at www.baltanakts.lv 

 

September 23, Mikelis Day Fair in Old Town Riga, Dome Square, Riga

Mikelis Day is celebrated during the autumn solstice, when the sun turns towards winter – this is the time when daytime and nighttime are the same length and the astronomical autumn sets in. This is an important time of year for farmers, when the most important jobs have been completed before winter, and it is time to celebrate the harvest. Market squares will be full of Latvian grown pumpkins, apples, pears, cranberries, cowberries and much more. The ladies of the house will be offering homemade jams, cheeses, traditional pastries and home-baked bread. Everyone will be able to enjoy and purchase fresh honey, as well as smoked meats and fish. Meanwhile, local craftsmen will also be on hand offering traditional and contemporary linens, ceramics, jewelry, wooden items and much, much more.

 

LITHUANIA 

September 05-10, New Circus Weekend 2017, Arts Printing House, Vilnius

All fans of contemporary performing arts can mark 5th-10th of September on their calendars – Arts Printing House has prepared an exciting program of New Circus Weekend 17 festival. Not only has it performances in various circus genres and venues, but a special celebration as well. Together with one of the strongest contemporary circus countries – Finland – the festival will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary of Independence. The Finnish Embassy in Vilnius is partnering up with the Finnish Institute in Estonia and helping Arts Printing House to present one of the most interesting circus performers from Finland this year. Besides Finns, professional artists from France, Belgium and Spain will also perform at New Circus Weekend 17. The festival is supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Ministry of Culture of The Republic of Lithuania. Additional information on the festival can be found at www.menuspaustuve.lt and for ticket purchase, please visit www.tiketa.lt 

 

September 09-10, NowJapan Festival S9, Exhibition and Convention Center Litexpo, Vilnius

The 9th extraordinary cultural festival NowJapan invites everyone to discover Japan. It’s the biggest event in the Baltics dedicated to Japanese culture. On September 09-10, the culture and lifestyle of the Country of the Rising Sun will flourish before your eyes. The festival will introduce Japan the way it is now: the synthesis of traditions, modernity and colorful entertainment. Among plenty of shows, creative workshops, presentations, contests, exposition stands, exhibitions, films and animation screenings, everyone will find their own subject to get to know Japan. Visiting artists will present the most relevant and most popular topics from Japanese cities – from animation to Japanese street fashion. The topics will cover insights on what it is like to be creative in Japan, what the price creatives have to pay for society is, and what the cultural climate in Japan is like. Two amazing days of arts, sounds, sights and tastes, to satisfy all your senses. Come, see, feel and fall in love! Tickets can be purchased at https://tickets.paysera.com/lt/event/nowjapan-festival-s9%E2%80%8B and more information is available at the event’s Facebook page.

 

September 15-17, International Street Theatres Festival “Mosaic”, various venues in Vilnius

The street theater – is a tool that can reach any audience, at any place, language not being the main expression. The festival has many thousands of ways of expression. Various as a mosaic, which is enough to tilt slightly, and it already shows a different picture. But most importantly, the goal is the same – to spread beauty and gladden the eye. The entrance to the festival is free of charge.

 

September 06-24, International Early Music Festival “Banchetto Musicale”, various venues in Vilnius

This September, loyal audiences and visitors to Vilnius will be able to attend the 27th Banchetto musicale Early Music Festival. Eleven concerts have been organized where everyone is sure to discover their favorite soloists, ensembles, composers and works. Music from different lands and performers from various corners of Europe and the world gather in Vilnius each year for this annual banquet of early music. The festival’s organizers have chosen the internationally celebrated 500th anniversary of the Reformation as this year's theme. Posting his theses on the doors of the Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517, Martin Luther started an uproar which ultimately reached to the spreading of a movement that grew into an entire epoch, and contributed significantly to the history of humanity. Many of this year’s festival concerts will thus in one way or another touch on the legacy of the Reformation, reminding us of the significant music creators from that time. The festival's concerts will take place on September 7–23, 2017 at the National Museum, Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, the Franciscan Monastery Church and Sts. Johns’ Church in Vilnius. For more information please visit www.bmfestival.lt