Riga Early Music Festival
Riga Early Music Festival
The Riga Early Music Festival (Riga Historical Music and Dance Festival) is an international early music festival that brings together outstanding historical music performers from Latvia and abroad every year, offering audiences a diverse musical journey through European music history.
The festival focuses on music from the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical periods, with particular emphasis on historically informed performance practice, the use of original instruments and their replicas, and the exploration and promotion of lesser-known musical heritage.
Festival concerts take place in Riga’s historic venues—churches, heritage buildings and the Collegium Musicum Riga concert hall—creating a close connection between music, architecture and the city’s cultural and historical heritage. The festival programme also extends beyond the capital, making early music more accessible across Latvia’s regions.
An international platform for artistic collaboration
The festival is an important meeting place for European early music professionals, bringing together internationally acclaimed soloists, chamber ensembles, Baroque orchestras and emerging artists. Alongside concerts, the festival programme includes lecture-recitals, educational events and interdisciplinary projects in which historical music encounters other art forms and contemporary interpretation.
The festival’s regular artistic partners include the Baroque orchestra Collegium Musicum Riga, whose more than 30 years of experience in historically informed performance make a significant contribution to the development of early music traditions in Latvia.
The festival’s international dimension is strengthened through collaboration with European early music organisations and participation in the international project Sustainable Eeemerging, which supports the development of emerging professional early music ensembles, international mobility and sustainable cultural cooperation.
European recognition of quality
The Riga Early Music Festival has been awarded the prestigious EFFE Label 2026–2027 quality label, recognising the festival’s artistic quality, international significance and contribution to European cultural life.
EFFE (Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe) is an initiative of the European Festivals Association that highlights festivals with high-quality artistic programmes, meaningful community engagement and potential for international collaboration.
This recognition strengthens the festival’s place on Europe’s cultural map and affirms Riga’s importance as one of the Baltic region’s centres for early music.
Historical music for today’s listeners
The Riga Early Music Festival aims not only to preserve and promote Europe’s musical heritage, but also to reveal its relevance in today’s cultural landscape. The festival invites audiences to discover historical music as a living, emotionally engaging art form that can continually be rediscovered.
Artistic Director – Māris Kupčs.
Festival Director and Producer – Aija Dimza.