More The National Cultural Heritage Administration had already prepared the concept for the preservation and development of the architectural monument of national importance a year ago but the responsible Ministry of Culture has still not said whether the concept is a valid one or not The ministry claims that it is considering other proposals on how to develop Latvia's most significant and to this day the best-preserved 17th-century military construction monument the Riga City Council is standing still in these negotiations Located on the left bank of the Daugava, the more than 20-hectare site of Daugavgrīva Fortress was built during the era of Swedish dominance when much of present day Latvia was part of the Swedish Empire and features the striking 'star' fortifications of that era The site has been maintained by the association "Bolderājas grupa" ('Bolderāja group' – Bolderāja is the adjacent Rīga suburb) for more than nine years Its board member Sandra Jakušonoka says that the fortress is visited by a lot of people on weekends when it is open even several hundred people visit here and over the course of the year many thousands especially because the entrance is free and it is an opportunity for the family to be together for a long time in a place where they can feel quite free," Jakušonoka said visitors need to be careful – in many places the historical heritage is crumbling and in some places you have to look under your feet to avoid tripping It by no means meets modern European standards for a major tourist attraction units of the Baltic Fleet of the USSR were stationed in the fortress until the withdrawal of Russian troops the area was controlled by the National Armed Forces but in 1999 it was decided to privatize the historical site The architectural monument of national importance was leased by the company "Aumeisteru muiža" with which the state concluded a contract for 49 years But a court terminated the contract in 2013 because the lessee did not fulfill the conditions of the agreement the fortress has been managed by a public asset manangement company under the remit of the Ministry of Economics the Ministry of Economics proposed to keep the fortress in state ownership no institution wanted to take responsibility for it given the size of the site and the potential expense of maintaining or developing it The Culture Ministry and National Cultural Heritage Administration (NKMP) were tasked with developing a concept of what to do with the fortress by November 2023 The NKMP submitted the development concept of the Daugavgriva fortress to the Ministry of Culture a year ago – within the set deadline Specialists suggested that the first Maritime Museum in Latvia could be created in the fortification in the future Estonia and Lithuania both have large striking maritime museums at historic sites – in the case of Lithuania an exhibition of cultural and historical objects recovered from the waves restoration workshops and a craft training place for the fortress The costs were estimated as at least 50 million euros The works could be carried out in stages says Anna Ancāne head of the Department of Architecture and Art of the NKMP: "We have a very good example that we should remember to look at degraded places have become an extremely attractive object [the Marc Rothko Art Museum].. we have not received any comments on this concept." the ball is in the Ministry of Culture's court there is not much evidence of enthusiasm for the plan at the Ministry of Culture The Council of Museums has criticized the proposal saying that the idea cannot be supported in the current circumstances because it is not known who will establish the proposed Maritime Museum what the exposition will contain and how the collection will be formed the ministry is looking for alternative solutions while preserving the idea of ​​a museum Deputy Director of the Culture Policy Department of the Ministry said: "There could still be a solution - to implement the management preservation and development of the Daugavgriva fortress together with a public organization But it would be at a less ambitious level than it would be in connection with the Maritime Museum." Another option would be to sell – if a buyer could even be found for such a vast site with numerous restrictions related its historically important status – but the Ministry is opposed to that at present "The main goal of the current discussions is to ensure the accessibility of the Daugavgrīva fortress to the public," said Mūrniece Mūrniece thinks that the final option the NKMP notes that its concept has already been sitting with the Ministry for a year It also expressed surprise that the Council of Museums did not support the proposed Maritime Museum bad that institutions do not communicate with each other," said Sandra Jakušonoka She categorically opposes the option of expropriating the historical site as the previous experience of doing so was a failure and is supportive of the idea of a maritime museum: "We have expressed our readiness to do everything and to cooperate as much as possible so that this object is preserved as a cultural heritage object that is publicly available to the public," she said She also noted that other big ticket items in Rīga such as a new concert hall and museum of contemporary art are also vying for funds so it might be a case of "waiting in line" for some time to come for the time being it doesn't want to get involved despite the fact that the fortress is on city territory.  The head of the municipality's cultural-historical material heritage commission city council member Rita Našeniece (New Unity) admits that the capital has little experience in attracting European money to protect cultural-historical heritage: "The municipality looks at this fortress very The Daugavgrīva fortress is an outstanding object of military heritage If Riga copes with its existing heritage objects and also understands how to integrate the heritage object with European funding opportunities I have a feeling that the city will have to return to the question of taking over the Daugavgrīva fortress in the future," she said When the municipality might take over the fortress in Daugavgrīva Meanwhile the future of the fortress remains unclear and this year the state has allocated a mere 19,000 euros for its conservation – slightly less than 1,000 euros per hectare Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor both residents and visitors of Riga are welcome to join the joyous neighbourhood festivals in Brasa Daugavgrīva and Vecāķi and enjoy an abundant programme of culture and activities for both young and old throughout the day Riga's Summer of Courage and Joy highlights the uniqueness of each neighbourhood The neighbourhoods’ graphic design features symbolic representations of each area Daugavgrīva by a fortress and the Island of Love These symbols were designed by artist Valters Kalsers and selected in cooperation with the Neighbourhood Residents' Centres Hospitāļu Street and its surroundings will become the centre of the Brasa Neighbourhood Festival featuring an impressive programme of activities local producers and crafts fair and a wide-ranging concert programme for every taste the Hospitāļu Street Neighbourhood Festival in Brasa is one of Riga's oldest and largest neighbourhood festivals the festival has both an ambitious programme and a brand new name – Brasa Neighbourhood Festival Feel free to join the festival's opening breakfast accompanied by the fabulous acoustic guitar performance by virtuoso Gints Smukais The festival's grand opening will start at 12:00 with a procession along Hospitāļu Street the festival will host a local producers and crafts fair while a range of caterers will offer delicious meals and refreshing drinks to suit all tastes visitors of Hospitāļu Street are welcome to take part in guided tours orienteering games and creative workshops and enjoy various music table tennis and chess tournaments and discussions and visit informative stands on the National Armed Forces and the State Police who work to strengthen the security of our country and society little ones and families with children are most welcome to test their strength in sponsored competitions for children and teenagers educational and creative games and activities workshops in cooperation with the Montessori Centre the “Mārtiņš’ Bubbles” soap bubble show and inflatable attractions the square at 73-77 Miera Street will host performances by the bands “Oranžās Brīvdienas” and “Tautumeitas” The concert programme will be followed by a live fire dance and music show performed by professional jugglers The Vecāķi Neighbourhood Festival will take place on Saturday the festival's youngest visitors are welcome to participate in creative workshops a sports activities programme and an improvisational theatre adventure “Legends of the Werewolf Pine” feel free to join us in the talk tent organised in cooperation with the Vecāķi Neighbourhood Association where discussions on the development of the neighbourhood will be held as well as a lecture on water safety together with the “Swim Safely” association The lecture will be followed by practical training by the water The talk tent will also include discussions on natural diversity and the current situation along the coast of the Baltic Sea as well as stories from the Vecāķi resort – memories of the recent and distant past A magnificent beach stage programme is planned from 14:00 to 21:30 offering a children’s concert and a high-spirited performance by the band “Pirmais kurss” The legendary band “Pērkons” will play between 19:00 and 20:00 the stage will host a special musical programme by Laima Jansone and DJ Monsta a fire will be lit on the banks of Vecāķi beach as part of The Night of Ancient Lights the intersection of Plēksnes and Parāde Streets will host the Daugavgrīva Neighbourhood Festival An extensive programme of culture and events for both young and old is planned throughout the day closing with performances by the bands “Dziļi violets” and “Keksi” the neighbourhood takes pride in its unique features residents and visions of future development The festival will kick off with sports activities at 12:00 with Coach Adils Maksimovs The festival's youngest visitors are kindly invited to the children's play “Dog and Cat at 13:00 and to the children's disco and soap bubble show “Treasures of the Daugavgrīva Sea” with Ēriks Balodis at 14:00 kids are welcome to visit the fun zone “Little Strongman” an ebru workshop and creative workshops held by the Bolderāja Music and Art School The festival's concert programme will open at 15:00 with Anta Eņģele and Marko Ojala's programme “Songs of the Sea” followed by a performance by Antons Trocjuks and Daniils Bulajevs at 16:00 and a concert by violinist Raimonds Ozols at 17:00 The talented singer Aija Vītoliņa will take the stage at 18:00 followed by a concert by the band “Mūzikas kolekcija” from the Bolderāja Group at 19:00 the band “Dziļi violets” will get the party started and then pass the torch to “Keksi” at 21:00 educational excursions to the Daugavgrīva Fortress will be organised with Sandra Jakušonoka as well as a tour of the Daugavgrīva neighbourhood by the residents' association “Daugavgrīva” a number of events are planned in the Moments of Joy Park in Vērmane Garden and the cultural space “Hive” creative workshops for children and teenagers the Nationwide Senior Vocal Ensemble Singing Festival an educational lecture on underwater friends and the Great Puppet Show “Magic of the Fairy Tale Forest” the legendary Latvian rock band “Pērkons” will give a concert on the Vērmane Garden stage The band's songs have been a pillar of Latvians’ national identity and pride since the 1980s the musicians have prepared their greatest and most-loved hits such as “Zaļā dziesma” “Gandrīz tautasdziesma” and “Mana dienišķā dziesma” the cultural space “Hive” in Bolderāja will host the Summer Closing Event featuring a performance by the flamenco dance studio “Zambra” together with the dance group “Septiņi kvadrātā” kids and teenagers will have the opportunity to test their wit and balance in the “Big Wooden Game” tents the accomplished musician and frontman of the band “Dzelzs vilks” Juris Kaukulis will give a concert in the Pļavnieki Green Grove at 30 Andreja Saharova Street the open-air stage of Pāvuls Jurjāns Music School will host a concert of brass bands These and many other activities await the visitors of the cultural space “Hive” Entrance to the events and activities throughout the day is free of charge All the summer cultural events in Riga are organised by the local government. For more information, please visit the website vasara.riga.lv or follow us on the social network page “What’s on in Riga” Information was prepared by: Sindija Grāvere, Project Coordinator External Communication Division of Riga City Council, e-mail: sindija.gravere@riga.lv  Your feedback will help us improve this site Take note – story published 2 years and 6 months ago Miķis asked the public to keep a distance from the base "These are shooting noises that soldiers [create] by shooting with their individual guns conducting combat-readiness maintenance exercises Residents need to know that they are absolutely safe and soldiers develop their combat readiness skills in order to be able to defend any resident of Latvia "These shooting noises do not threaten the residents of Daugavgrīva in any way [..]," Miķis said the New Theatre Institute of Latvia (NTIL) invites you to Daugavgriva Fortress to individually attend the audio performance cycle “Our Gruesome Cultural Heritage” Audio performance walks have been made in a remote collaborative practice of scenography and performing arts students which took place simultaneously in three sites – Daugavgriva Fortress in Riga Haoya island in Norway and Famagusta “ghost city” in Cyprus – all of them being abandoned territories with nature gradually taking over their complex history One of the novel aspects of this gathering is to create and test new practices that can overcome distance and transfer phenomenology of place to someone who has never been there physically 16 students and 6 mentors took part in this project including theatre-makers and dramaturges Sodja Lotker The audio performance cycle can be listened to free of charge by scanning walking QR codes or in the ECHOES application The works can be listened to in Latvian and English the creators encourage the use of audio headphones Daugavgrīva Fortress is open to visitors every weekend from 10.00 to 16.00 “Our Gruesome Cultural Heritage” is part of international project “Emergence” dedicated to research and mobility in the field of scenography. It is supported by the “Creative Europe” programme of the EU, Ministry of Culture of Latvia and State Culture Capital Foundation. The NTIL would like to thank Sandra Jakušonoka and Vladimirs Jakušonoks from “Bolderājas grupa” for a collaboration. Organisers: New Theatre Institute of Latvia, Norwegian Theatre Academy, Cyprus Theatre Organisation This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Take note – story published 4 years and 9 months ago The festival was created to promote the development of the Fortress of Daugavgrīva and will be taking place for the fifth year this weekend The unique Fortress of Daugavgrīva on the left coast of the River Daugava is the largest fortress from the 17th century in Latvia Some of the barracks and warehouse buildings The “Komēta” festival itself will take place over the last weekend of July but until August 15 it will host events every weekend Nearly 21 hectares in the vast area could also accommodate nearly 55 thousand visitors festival organizers will limit visitor numbers and promise to create a small Utopian country where people enjoy art and music in nature “We're a little festival and we're not planning more There will be fewer than a thousand visitors especially after the Tērbatas Street precedent,” organizers said The events of the “Komēta” festival at the Fortress of Daugavgrīva will invite visitors from July 25 to August 15 every weekend Take note – story published 9 years and 6 months ago The Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Bureau has launched an investigation into the incident involving the Latvian tanker "Flagman 1" running aground on a sandbank in Riga's Daugavgriva on Saturday It is said that the investigation process will be lengthy due to technical inspections The tanker was on its way from Riga to Ventspils when it ran aground on a sandbank on the left bank of the Daugava River The Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Bureau explains that such incidents rarely happen in the port's aquatorium One of the reasons why the tanker encountered a sandbank was due to malfunction of the ship's rudder this theory will be verified during the investigation the captain (born 1962) of the Latvian tanker "Flagman 1" which ran aground in Daugavgriva late Friday the police had arrived and at the scene immediately checked the vessel's captain They discovered that he was heavily intoxicated and forwarded it to the Coast Guard for continued investigation the tanker is owned by an Estonian company The vessel was loaded full with some 15,000 tons of fuel It had been a few meters from the coast and quite swerved before it was pulled away from the sandbank.  The acting head of the Coastal Guard Arnis Skribis said that a catastrophe had been very close the pollution would have spread across the coast and would take several years to clear up The 33 years old vessel had been en route from Rīga to Ventspils port and it ran aground on a sandbank shortly after midnight.