The Nordic - Baltic Choral Festival will take place from 25 to 28 June 2015, in Riga and different regions of Latvia. In 2015 the Festival tradition celebrates its 20th anniversary – during this period of time these Festivals have been held in all the states involved in the tradition. In the anniversary year Latvia is entitled to organize it once again. Members of the Festival - about 10,000 singe
rs from the Festival member states - Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland. It is planned to invite as Festival participants also the Latvian diaspora choirs from Europe and other countries, as well as to invite choirs from Italy (Presidency of the European Union before Latvia) and Luxembourg (Presidency of the European Union after Latvia). The tradition of the Festival was established in 1995 with the aim of bringing together amateur choirs from Nordic and Baltic countries, cultivating the tradition of singing together that is characteristic of Song and Dance Festivals, including a ca****la performance, which until then has been characteristic only of the Baltic countries, and to facilitate the cross-cultural exchange. The distinguished conductor Imants Kokars is the author of the Festival idea, bringing together almost 6,000 singers from the Nordic and Baltic countries. In the following years the Festivals were organized in Gotland, Sweden (1997), Skien, Norway (2000), Klaipeda, Lithuania (2002), Tartu, Estonia (2008), Reykjavik, Iceland (2010), Helsinki, Finland (2012). Taking into account the fact that during the period from January 1 to June 30, 2015 Latvia holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, it is scheduled to organize this Festival as the final event of the public diplomacy and Culture programme of the Presidency in Latvia. The preparation and organization of the Festival planned in 2015 is done by the Latvian Ministry of Culture and the National Centre for Culture in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency in the EU Council, Ministry of Interior, the State Police and the State Fire and Rescue Service, the Ministry of Health and Emergency Medical Services, Latvian local authorities, Latvian Television and Latvian Radio, non-governmental organizations, as well as the Nordic-Baltic organizations.
