This year, two beautiful cities have the honor being European Capitals of Culture, although only one of them is proud to have an AEGEE antenna. AEGEE-Rīga has been bringing Europe closer to Latvian students since 2001, while Swedish town Umeå still has potential to attract AEGEE. Who knows, maybe soon already?
Having said that, there is no surprise that several AEGEE members were present during the opening weekend for Riga – European Capital of Culture 2014. Despite the cold weather (around -13°C), in the weekend of January 17th-19th thousands of people enjoyed loads of activities in the streets of Riga. As we say in Latvia – “I was also there, I also ate the honey and I also drank the wine”.
Probably the most important happening on Saturday was the incredible Chain of Booklovers, where 12 thousand people united in a chain bringing books from the former building of the National Library of Latvia to the new building, known as the Palace of Light. I was standing quite at the beginning of the chain, but even then it took more than 20 minutes before the first books arrived to our part and we were instructed how to pass it on from one’s left side to the right side. If in the beginning there were not so many books and I was very eager to read all the titles, then in the end there was no time at all, the best you could do was enjoy different designs, shapes and weight of books. Although the chain lasted for a few hours, only a few thousand books were moved – it was more an emotional activity rather than a practical one.
During the day people were able to enjoy dozens of activities in the Old Riga, Silent Centre and other parts of the city centre, including several musical performances in Riga Central Market. When it started to get dark, one could find people around the river Daugava where there was the World Fire Sculpture Championship, The Parade of Light and really nice fireworks.
Throughout the year there are hundreds of other activities happening both for locals and tourists so make sure to pay a visit to Riga, European Capital of Culture 2014!
Written by Anita Kalmane, Foundation AEGEE Trust Fund (FATF)