On Saturday last week Riga hosted the International Festival of Language and Culture which was the 14th of its kind in the world. The festival was organized by the NGO “Dialogu Nams”, Riga Meridian International School and SIA “Baltic education” and supported by Riga Lithuanian School, “Rīgas Nami”, Inpay Latvia and Masaurum. We are very grateful for the organizators as the show of the festival made the day for all our participants, guests and friends that afternoon.
The show was spectacular, colourful and joyful. It gathered 36 performers from 8 different countries – Norway, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Sweden, Turkey, Latvia. The performers (children from 10 to 16) demonstrated all their talents and did their best to make spectators really believe in what they see on the stage. The guests of the festival were overwhelmed with their attractive energy, joy of life and colourful performances.
One of the brightest performances of the festival was a great song by a Swedish girl, which was both powerful and touching. Many spectators will remember her strong voice, as well as the funny and lively Belarussian girls trio, who sang a song about perks of being friends. And of course, we must mention the humble and delicate poem by a Turkish girl which was recited in Latvian. Quoting one of the festival’s guests:
“I particularly loved the Latvian poem recited by a Turkish girl. I have heard my mothertongue, my language, in a different way today. The girl has shown me the part of it I never knew. I’ve heard it with different emphasis, its different colours and interpretation… ”
The festival gathered 350 guests. The atmosphere was full of friendship and unity. There clearly was a connection between performers and spectators, the exchange of thoughts, emotions and joy.
We want to thank all our performers for they efforts and their art. We thank all our guests for coming and for celebrating it together with us. It is worth to mention one of our guest’s feedback:
“While the political background of the world is not always as peaceful, this festival today promotes peace and shows us that with all differences we have we can still be friends.”
The idea of these words draws a good conclusion for what is the aim and purpose of the International Festival of Language and Culture. We hope that one day the whole world will celebrate it together with us.