The XIII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival will take place in the summer of 2025, from the 5th to 13th July. More than 30 events will take place during the Festival in various venues: Mežaparks Great Stage, Daugava Stadium, Arena Riga, Kipsala International Exhibition Center, Dailes Theatre, VEF Culture Palace, Riga Cathedral, Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia, Freedom Square, Vērmane Garden Park, and others.
Participants from various artistic groups from Latvia and the diaspora — choral and vocal ensemble singers, folk and contemporary dancers, wind band and symphony orchestra musicians, folklore and folk music ensemble participants, accordion players, kokle players, young artists, actors — will participate in the Festival. Inga Vasiļjeva, Head of the XIII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival Organising Group, emphasises: “We are pleased about and appreciate each participant who is preparing for the Festival. Thank you to teachers and parents for the work they put into making sure we can celebrate tunefully and joyfully in summer 2025! We still have preparation ahead of us; the artistic teams and Festival organisers are working to ensure that the XIII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival brings a feeling of pride in being part of the song and dance festival tradition to all participants.”
More than 30 events are included in the Festival week programme: a contemporary dance concert, a kokle ensemble concert, a folklore programme, a folk music concert, a celebration in Vērmane Garden, a parade of Festival participants. For the first time, the Festival programme includes an accordion music concert. As is tradition, there will also be a wind orchestra concert, grand folk dance concert at Daugava Stadium, and a grand finale concert at the Mežaparks Great Stage.
DAWNS-HERE, the Festival Grand Finale Concert, will take place on the 13th July at 4 p.m. at the Mežaparks Great Stage. Chief Conductors: Kaspars Ādamsons, Aira Birziņa, Līga Celma-Kursiete, Gints Ceplenieks, Eduards Grāvītis, Mārtiņš Klišāns, Māris Sirmais, Jevgeņijs Ustinskovs, Romāns Vanags, Edgars Vītols. Serving as Chief Conductors at the School Youth Song Festival for the first time: Ilze Balode, Jurģis Cābulis and Rudīte Tālberga. Chief Conductors of Honour: Jānis Erenštreits, Jēkabs Ozoliņš, Arvīds Platpers.
I Opened Laima’s Garden, the Grand Folk Dance Concert, will take place on the 11th and 12th July at Daugava Stadium. Chief Dance Leaders: Dace Adviljone, Dagmāra Bārbale, Agris Daņiļevičs, Ilmārs Dreļs, Jānis Ērglis, Taiga Ludborža, Iluta Mistre, Zanda Mūrniece, Jānis Purviņš, Guna Trukšāne. Serving as Chief Dance Leaders for the first time: Rūta Cīrule, Dāvis Ērglis, Jānis Kalniņš, Arvils Noviks. Chief Dance Leaders of Honour: Taisa Aruma, Inta Dimante, Indra Filipsone, Olga Freiberga, Ojārs Lamass, Liene Lūse, Ilze Mažāne, Janīna Nurka, Ingrīda Edīte Saulīte, Rita Spalva, Baiba Rasma Šteina.
How Sound Was Born, the Wind Band Concert, will take place on the 10th July at Kipsala International Exhibition Center. Chief Conductors: Haralds Bārzdiņš, Gvido Brenčevs, Agris Celms, Viesturs Galenieks, Māris Martinsons, Mārcis Miķelsons, Aldis Kise, Atvars Lakstīgala, Sandors Līviņš, Mareks Romanovskis, Egons Salmanis. Chief Conductors of Honour: Andris Muižnieks, Jānis Smilga, Donāts Veikšāns, Harijs Zdanovskis.
To encourage everybody to get involved in the Song and Dance Festival movement, Friend of the Festival Swedbank has created a campaign entitled “The Festival Feeling Lives in Us!”, to ensure that the tradition is nurtured and handed down to the next generations. In a special section of the Swedbank blog, anyone can read the stories of the campaign’s ambassadors, inspiring people from throughout Latvia who show by example how they have passed down their love of the song festival movement to the next generations.
The organiser of the XIII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival is the State Education Content Centre, which is a state institution under the Ministry of Education and Science. Supported by Friend of the Festival Swedbank.
