The Lampa conversational Festival

One week ago the city of Cesis, in the Vidzeme region, welcomed the Lampa Festival, a yearly conversational forum founded in 2015.

What is the Lampa conversational festival?

The Lampa conversation festival was founded in 2015 by the DOTS Foundation for an Open Society with the aim to foster civic engagement in Latvia. During a couple of days, the city of Cesis welcomes hundreds of panelists discussing various topics, ranging from science to politics and international affairs, not to mention arts and sports. Thus, participants can expand their knowledge and confront themselves with new ideas. An open platform, the Lampa festival is also a debating platform, with Q&A sessions after each discussion. The Lampa festival is also an important moment for civic engagement in Latvia, based on respect and thoughtful discussions. For those familiar with TED talks, you have to imagine a sort of 2-day-session with hundreds of mini-TED talks on a wide variety of topics!

The 2024 Edition

It is the vast program the Lampa Festival has to offer that attracts hundreds of visitors every year. During this year’s edition, participants were able to attend panels on topics ranging from human rights to the climate crisis. Among those present one could find both politics enthusiasts as well as active citizens of Latvian society. While sitting close together, the audience had the chance to join open discussions. Such examples were : “Volunteer work as a part of the company’s sustainability strategy and an opportunity for self-growth for employees” and “The miser pays twice – how will we finance the renovation of buildings in Latvia”. By exploring the panels, participants could also enjoy local food brands and interactive games. Nevertheless, the festival’s organizing team made sure to engage all age segments. Most importantly, the Lampa Festival has a variety of languages available for the talks. Once you check their website, you might notice the main ones being Latvian and English. The festival also attracts a large number of partners, including embassies, companies and NGOs. For instance, the Norwegian Embassy organized this year a reception following several discussion panels on international cooperation with Scandinavian countries.

How to participate?

Located in Cesis Castle park, the festival is easily accessible from Riga. A two-hour train ride would bring you to Cesis from the Riga central station, and you can reach the festival on foot. Trains run from early morning to late evening (the last one was scheduled at 11:55 pm). Going to the festival is also a good opportunity to visit Cesis, a pretty town with lots of old cafes and beautiful architecture. You can learn more about this city by reading this blog post.

The entrance is free, and you can access any panels. Programme is accessible online, on the festival website. In case you need help, you can seek advice from festival agents, who are always happy to help visitors find the spot they’re looking for. 

This article was brought to you by Theo & Elena, both studying Russian at Liden & Denz in Riga.

All the pictures dispalyed in this article were taken by the authors.