The answer is blowing in the wind: Liepāja 2027 tells us what to expect

Ostensibly the night was intended to reveal the cultural line-up the city will offer next year, but the announcement of details was largely absent, replaced by a selection of mini-performances that give a tiny taste of the things to come in the same way that the hors d'oeuvre on offer let you chew on something for a few seconds while pondering where you will go for dinner.

Photo: Publicity image

It is worth noting that a "severe alert" for storm-force winds was in place throughout the opening event which added credibility to the city's claim that it is the place where the wind is born, as well as demonstrating the determination of people in Liepāja to carry on with a party even when the official advice is to stay at home and hunker down. 

Staged at the Great Amber concert hall, things got off to a conventional but very enjoyable start when the singers of the Barta Ethnographic Ensemble materialised on a staircase and filled the lobby with their sonorous voices while the wind outside joined the chorus with a harmonic counterpoint of its own.

Photo: , Edgars Pohevi?s

With the evening now officially under way, the audience of local dignitaries, arts professionals, media and who knows who else were then politely prodded around the corridors and hallways of the concert hall to witness various performances: acrobatics, acting, singing, dancing and a climactic DJ set by Evija Vēbere that within 20 minutes converted me from "Oh God, a DJ set, I hate DJ sets" to "Oh God, this is a great DJ set even though I hate DJ sets."

Vebere blasting out crunching sounds and grinding rhythms while people circled around her wondering how on earth to dance to it all was a highlight that provided a nice bookend to the performance launched by the women of Barta.

The theme of women being in charge and centre stage was strong throughout. Liepaja 2027's artistic director Baiba Bartkeviča herself rocked the mic impressively and also took time to speak to LSM on the sidelines of the launch (with the music still thumping and the canapés still crunching in the background, as you can hear) to outline her take on the next year of culture and communication with the outside world.

Photo: , Edgars Pohevi?s

While Bartkeviča (and everyone else I asked) denied that Liepāja 2027 is going to be primarily about and for the people Liepāja themselves, it felt to me that this is the case. Thoughout the launch event and a lengthy press event beforehand, the fact that there is actually another European Capital of Culture in 2027 (Évora in Portugal) was only mentioned once, and even then only in passing as "a place in Portugal". Being "The" capital of culture sounds a lot more impressive than being "A" capital of culture and, in my personal opinion, the decision from 2001 to double the number of capitals halved its significance. But it's a bit late to moan about it now.

Photo: , Edgars Pohevi?s

A couple of years ago at the launch of the Tartu 2025 Capital of Culture programme in Estonia, the organizers invited lots of journalists from Latvia because they were targeting a Latvian audience in addition to the locals. Consequently we asked lots of questions about whether there would be any trains from Rīga to Tartu. In the end these trains were introduced just after the capital of culture ended.

Strangely, this time around I wanted to ask essentially the same question: "Will there be more than the one train per day from Rīga?" so that foreigners flying into the capital (and indeed any other visitors who prefer a train to a crowded bus or a hire car) could consider this as an option. Sadly there was no-one to ask about this and Liepāja does not seem to be actively targeting visitors from Lithuania in the way that Tartu was targeting visitors from Latvia.

Photo: , OHM.LV

But this is not really a criticism. I suspect that the assumption that the European Capital of Culture generates lots of foreign visitors and extra cash is probably overblown unless there are the sort of major international stars on the bill that people will travel great distances to see.

For Liepāja 2027 the two biggest "international" concerts are probably the visits of Rufus Wainwright and Andris Nelsons. Both will of course sell out, but these are concert-hall sized events, not stadium-fillers. It seems completely legitimate to concentrate of showing the population of Liepāja and southern Kurzeme a good time and leave the matter of whether others show up from elsewhere for people to work out for themselves.  

Photo: , Karlis Volkovskis

In any case, the big reveal of the programme isn't the same as the real launch of the Capital of Culture which promises to be an even bigger party. Taking place on January 22nd and 23rd, the celebrations will climax with a 'City Symphony' created by Liepāja's artists and collectives under the direction of Academy Award winner Matīss Kaža. The temperature in Latvia on January 23rd last year was -10 Celsius. In Portugal it was +14 Celsius. But then there's also the wind to consider. I know where I'll be – if there is a train.

You can find more about the Liepāja 2027 programme at https://liepaja2027.lv/en/.

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