This year’s LAMPA Conversation Festival will largely take place online

Although the approach of summer inspires hope that we will soon again be able to meet friends and other like-minded people face to face, the current unpredictable situation has nevertheless forced us to make some difficult yet responsible decisions. People will surely continue exploring and gaining new impressions from home, but distance is also no obstacle to valuable conversations! Therefore, this year’s LAMPA Conversation Festival will take place online from September 2–5.

“Just a month ago, we moved the date for the LAMPA festival. But now it’s clear that we’ll have to meet mostly online, in a digital format. This has not been an easy decision for us. We would very much like to meet and talk in Cēsis Castle Park, but people’s health is the most important thing, and therefore meeting in person will probably be limited to very small groups. LAMPA will take place, but in a different format than we are used to, because we will largely be conversing with each other online,” says festival director Ieva Morica.

As a warm-up to conversations about important issues and to try out holding conversations digitally, LAMPA has launched its Conversation Space already in late April. The LAMPA Conversation Space is a meeting and conversation room for times of physical distancing; anyone can join the conversation via Zoom to talk about prearranged topics. Virtual meetings and conversations will take place almost every week in the run-up to the festival.

“We, the LAMPA team, are working to develop an exciting festival programme in Latvian, English and Russian language, and to preserve the LAMPA spirit also in digital format,” continues Morica. “This is a time when friendships are being tested, and that’s why we’re very grateful to everyone who is helping us financially, supporting us with resources and sharing their wisdom and experience with us – everyone who has taken on the challenge of creating a digital LAMPA together with us. Our festival will take place this year, and LAMPA will shine across all of Latvia!”

In 2021, the festival will again take place in Cēsis Castle Park, as usual. But LAMPA won’t leave people in the dark as they wait for next year’s festival! The festival has always been and will continue to be accessible to all, no matter the format, free of charge. For more information about the festival, click here.

The LAMPA Conversation Festival team is comprised of the Foundation for an Open Society DOTS, Swedbank Latvia, Cēsis Municipality, the British Council in Latvia, the Deep White communication management agency and the Armadillo advertising agency. The festival is also supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Open Society Foundations, the European Cultural Foundation, the European Commission Representation in Latvia and the businesses Latvijas Finieris, Enefit and Eko Rija.