The current chairman of the of the largest beer festival “Latviabeerfest 2013” Raymond Bergman transferred his power to Armand Simson. This step is related to the Bergman’s professional activities in the sports industry, but the long-term cooperation is planned to be restored.

In order to encourage the citizens and guests of the city to indulge in a gastronomic adventure, four seasonal restaurant weeks will be organised in Riga. Within the scope of the event restaurants will prepare special offers using seasonal Latvian products. The first — Spring Riga Restaurant Week — will take place from 22 April until 28 April.

Are you ready for delicious adventures? Mark in your calendar: from March until May, but especially 22–28 April. Then, during the project Delightfully Delicious Destination — Riga, 15 restaurants, bars and cafes of various gastronomic tendencies will honour Latvia's special spring products — birch sap, rhubarb and sprats.

From 15 March until 27 April within the scope of the gastronomic project "Delightfully Delicious Destination — Riga" a joint project of Tallinn and Riga called "Restaurant Exchange" will be organised. Chefs of restaurants in Tallinn will visit Riga, and representatives of restaurants in Riga will go to restaurants in Tallinn.

Offer of year 2013 of the project "Delightfully Delicious Destination — Riga" has been revealed. The aim of the project is to strengthen the image of Riga as the capital of gastronomy of the Baltic States and to promote development of restaurant culture in Riga.

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

At the closing of the Riga Bicycle Week the third Tweed run – retro bicycle and attire parade, took place. Popularity of this event continually increases. This year almost 500 people participated. Considering the great enthusiasm both from the spectators and the participants it is presumed that in the next years the number of participants will grow even more.

Aldaris will become the first private company that will open the doors of its brewery to everybody as part of the Night of Museums. It will be a unique opportunity to get a closer insight into brewing and its traditions, as well as to hear interesting stories about the history of brewing. The brewery will be open to visitors on May 19 from 07:00 pm till 01:00 am.

On 25-27 May 2012 the biggest beer festival in Baltics, Latviabeerfest, will be taking place in the heart of Riga - at the Vermanes Garden. As of today 21 breweries from Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Ukraine, Belgium, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Austria with 68 varieties of beer will be participating in the beer festival with the numbers still rising.

The Riga Tourism Information Centre has summarised the information on opening hours of museums during the Easter holiday.

The short film “FEEL RĪGA” won the third place in the international tourism film and multimedia competition “The Golden Citygate”, category “City tourism”. The competition is organised within the scope of the International Tourism Exchange ITB Berlin 2012.

In collaboration with chefs from 25 of Riga’s restaurants and cafés, the Riga Tourism Development Bureau (RTDB) has developed the “Delightfully Delicious Destination" project. During the course of this year, the city will introduce local residents and foreign visitors to the use of Latvian products in the preparation of outstandingly delicious meals.

This summer, Sting will perform many of his most celebrated hits at the Arena Riga on 29-July with a 5-piece band including his longtime guitarist, Dominic Miller, Vinnie Colauita (drums), David Sancious (keyboards), Peter Tickell (electric fiddle) and Jo Lawry (vocals).

The Baltic Fashion Federation informs about the dates of the largest fashion event in the Baltic region – a traditional RIGA FASHION WEEK this spring will take place in Riga, Latvia, on March 21 – 24, 2012.

The multi-partner loyalty programme BalticMiles has 11,000 locations around the world to earn points.

The Latvian National Opera invites to visit annual Riga Opera Festival from June 5 to 17. The highlights of the 2012 festival will be the performances of Götterdämmerung, the final part of Richard Wagner’s tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, the next step on the way to the production of the full cycle which will be performed at the Riga Opera Festival in 2013.

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.

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.