On New Year's Eve, everyone is welcome to see in the New Year at Riga's Freedom Monument with magnificent fireworks, song and dance.

This winter season Elizabete Design Hotel has opened a unique place for everyone to warm their hearts and submerge in the mistery of Madam Elizabete.

Our guests will have the opportunity to try the traditional cuisine in Old Riga – the Latvian traditional and locally hunted grilled venison meat or the locally fished pike-perch. Meals are prepared over an open fire and are based on ancient Latvian recipes, which the Chef was lucky to find in the outskirts of Kurland. Tour guides and hotel company representatives might enjoy the special ‘’Tasting months’’ and can taste the old Latvian cuisine with a 65 % special discount.

Facing the Laima Clock on Kalku Street, a countdown clock has been erected displaying the remaining time until the opening face-off of the KHL All-Star Game 2012.

Riga Tourist Information Center compiled a list with the holiday working hours of museums, shops, cinemas and restaurants.

The Latvian national airline airBaltic is the first airline in the world to sell cars on board. Starting December 16, 2011 passengers onboard airBaltic flights will have the opportunity to purchase custom designed Mini Coopers.

Swedish Ambassador to Latvia Mats Staffansson presented a set of Nobel Prize banquet tableware to the Art Museum Riga Bourse on December 8. The gift will now be displayed in the museum's permanent exhibition.

The fourth annual Santas Fun Run and Walk is scheduled for Sunday, December 11 at 11.30 a.m. in the Dome Square of Riga's Old Town. Everyone is welcome to don Santa's suit and participate in the charity run and walk: the three-kilometre distance should be doable by anyone, be it an experienced runner, a beginner, or someone who simply wants to take part in a fun event.

Rīga's main Christmas trees - on Town Hall and Dome squares - were lit in front of more than 1,000 Rigans and tourists on the first Sunday of Advent. At the same time, smaller Christmas trees were lit throughout the city and several Christmas markets, for a pleasant shopping experience in a warm holiday atmosphere, opened.

In celebration of the 93rd anniversary of Latvia, a wide programme of events will take place in Rīga on November 18. Rigans and the city's guests will have the opportunity to take part in various festivities and enjoy numerous cultural events.

Fire sculpture "Song of Riga" will be set alight in the Riga Canal near Bastejkalns Hill on November 18 at 6 p.m.

On November 9 at 5 p.m., a unique and provocative sculpture was unveiled in Riga, next to shopping centre Spice (29 Lielirbes Street) - the world's largest Angel of Shopping. The sculpture's height is six metres. The Angel of Shopping and an ensemble of other three sculptures - Angels of Love, Wisdom, and Money - were designed by the internationally recognised German artist and expert of figurative art Norbert Folberger.

The new Key to Riga, forged during the city's recent 810th anniversary, has been placed on a pedestal at the Town Hall building for every Rigan and guest of the city to see.

After long and careful preparations, the only Egyptian mummy in Latvia has been transferred from the Riga Castle to the Art Museum Riga Bourse. The third floor vault where the mummy will be put on display will be opened for visitors on November 16.

A large number of commemorative events and an extensive cultural programme is planned for November 11 Lacplesis Day in Riga, including a torch procession, concerts, dance performances, film screenings, and patriotic activities for young people.

Good music and good wine - this composition of relish, as well as professionals' stories about it will be heard in a new series of concerts "Wine and music" at Spīķeri Concert Hall, offered by "Latvijas koncerti" in cooperation with the restaurant "Kitchen".

The Latvian National Museum of Art is preparing for the renovation of its main building at K. Valdemāra Street 10a, therefore, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Friday, the museum invites to make use of its special offer and become familiar with its permanent exhibition - "Late Fridays".

In order for Rigans and visitors to the city to have more convenient access to expositions and exhibitions at the House of Blackheads and the Riga Art Space, "Rīgas nami" Ltd. has created an underground passageway, connecting both buildings.

On October 10, the Cinema "Multikino" will launch the new opera and ballet season with a live broadcast of Charles-Francois Gounod's opera "Faust" from the Paris Opera.

As is the rule for the world's leading marathons, Nordea Riga Marathon also starts registering its participants eight months before the event to give them the opportunity to choose the most appropriate distance and prepare for it. The 22nd Nordea Riga Marathon will be held on May 20, 2012.

Miķelis Day Fair at the Town Hall Square on September 24 and 25 this year features Latvia's first Carrot Festival, where visitors will have a chance to tour the "Rabbit Town" and see sculptures made of Latvia-grown carrots.

Latvian money pillows, Led Zeppelin staircase, specially-designed edible amber, crisis coffee table, glass rolling pin - these are just a few of the fabulous art objects designed in Latvia to be displayed at the Baltic furniture and interior exhibition "Baltic Furniture 2011".

At the beginning of October, Riga will once again become a city of design. Festival Design.Future 2011 will be held in Riga for the seventh time, and this year's key events have already been marked on the design map - the Baltic-Nordic design week, Riga international young designers biennial Design for All and Everyone, and a graphic design competition organised by Antalis.

The Art Academy of Latvia, founded by the outstanding landscape painter Vilhelms Purvītis at the beginning of the 20th century, remains to be the only higher educational institution of arts. This year the Academy marks its 90th anniversary.

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra will open its new 85th concert season on September 29 at the Great Guild Hall.

The new 2011/2012 season of the Latvian National Opera will open September 15 with the concert performance of Imants Kalniņš opera "I Played, I Danced". The National Opera will present several new productions during the 2011/2012 season.

A musical journey into the extremes of emotion and versatility of musical epochs is brought to you by the Autumn Chamber Music Festival that will include ten concerts from September 14 to October 7 in Riga.

This autumn, international film festival "Arsenāls", which will run from September 10 to September 18 in Riga, at "Citadele" and "K.Suns" cinemas, will focus on not just latest and best films from South Asian cinema but also showcase Russian and C.I.S. countries' films.

On August 20, during the Riga City Festival, Riga will experience the opening of a new art museum, called the Riga Stock Exchange. The opening ceremony will be streamed online on a big screen on Dome Square.

Now anyone can gain access to the heart of Riga by tasting the special Riga cocktail called "Clavis Riga", which in Latin means "Riga Key". The cocktail, created by the bar "Lidojošā varde" bartender Andris Noreiķis for the "Riga Cocktail" competition, has been recognized as the special cocktail of Riga.

The best street gymnasts from 14 countries will come together at Grīziņkalns Skatepark on August 27 and 28, competing for the street gymnast world title.

Every Riga resident and the guests of the city are invited to donate unwanted keys for the forging of a new Riga City Key for the city's 810th anniversary.

International contest of young pop singers "New Wave" will celebrate its tenth anniversary at not just Dzintari Concert Hall, Jurmala beaches and tennis courts, but also on the "Origo Summer Stage" and in various clubs in Riga, where key past participants in the festival and Russian pop stars will give concerts.

Some of the tastiest cocktails, most skilful bartenders, best crowds and the new and special Riga Cocktail - all of this and much more at "Cocktail Festival" that will be held in Old Town Riga's Konventhof on August 5 and 6.

A real movie marathon - the Night of Film Provocations - will be held on September 16 to open the film festival "Baltic Pearl". Three festival films for the price of one will be screened from midnight till morning: international award-winning films by outstanding directors for the price of only LVL 5.

You can learn everything about the 810-year-long history of Riga at cinema now. From castles to modern buildings - "Rīgas stāsts" (Riga Story) is a documentary that brings to light the many secret pages from the city's history.

The contemporary arts forum "White Night 2011", in its sixth year, presents concerts, film screenings, and theatre and visual arts performances, offering you an opportunity to observe and participate in the creative process.

The Latvian National Opera (LNO) is proud to delights opera and ballet lovers with eight summer performances - four operas and four ballets - between July 27 and August 6, presenting the very best of LNO opera and ballet soloists and new productions.

During this year's Riga Festival, the world's most prestigious aerobatic competition, "Elite Aerobatic Formula", will for the first time be held in Latvia. The competition will continue for three days, August 18 through August 20, after which Rigans and guests of the city will be offered a special aerobatics program on August 21.

Open-air cinema at the Cinema Tent, located in the dunes near the sea, has become an integral part of the Positivus Festival. The 2011 Positivus Festival's film programme will offer internationally acclaimed films as well as latest Latvia-produced movies, documentaries and animated films.

The world's most expensive coffee - Luwak, processed by the Asian Palm civet, can now be purchased in Riga, available for 8.80 LVL/ a cup.

This August will bring a major celebration of Riga's 810th anniversary with various events for families, an aviation show, a superb concert schedule and theatrical performances all over the city. Join the celebration to learn about Riga and its artists!

Special shuttle buses - Positivus Ekspresis - have been arranged for 2011 Positivus Festival-goers to/from the venue.

Held in the Sigulda Castle ruins with a view of Medieval Turaida Castle on the opposite peak, the annual Opera Festival has become a long-awaited tradition. The event brings together world-renowned opera stars and promotes promising local singers. This year the festival's key event is a performance of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.

Latvian soprano Maija Kovaļevska started her dazzling international career in the United States, making her Metropolitan Opera debut at end-2006 right after winning Placido Domingo's World Opera Competition "Operalia". This July, Maija Kovaļevska will perform at Sigulda Opera Music Festival, and in August at the Riga Cathedral.

On June 23, Rigans and tourists are invited to celebrate the shortest night of the year on the Daugava Embankment and in one of the most picturesque places in Riga - Dzegužkalns Hill.

If you want to find out how flamingos have dinner, how much a hippo eats daily, why boars like shower, what lemurs and meerkats like for dinner, how long is a giraffe's tongue, and what games do seals Pika and Eze play now, you have to visit Riga Zoo, where public feeding of animals is staged every day from 11:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Prominent international music publications have included Positivus Festival 2011 on their "must attend" lists, whereas musicians who previously performed at the festival still have fond memories about the unique opportunity to give a gig in dunes surrounded by pine-trees, on the shores of the Baltic Sea.

The 810th anniversary of Riga will be marked by various events August 19 through August 21. One of the most memorable of these will take place in the evening of August 20, when 7,000 choir singers, dancers and brass bands from all over Latvia will perform in the concert "Master. Song. Legend" at Mezaparks' Grand Stage.

Exhibition of paintings by Rolands Bruno Butāns, titled "A Vision of Riga", is on display at "Rīga" hotel lobby up until Riga Festival that will be held on August 19 through August 21.