During this week-end everybody will have an opportunity to participate in the NATO Summit at the newly renovated Daile theatre

Photo by Miks Latvis

24.11.2006 

Riga– for two days, during the weekend of November 25 and 26 all the residents of Latvia and guests are welcome to visit the renovated Daile theatre for a special NATO “Open House” event. This event will give those who attend a better perspective on the NATO Summit in Riga and will allow them to partake in various competitions and have a good time.

Upon entering the “Open House” a surprise event has been organized to welcome everyone and give everyone the opportunity to participate in a free lottery. For the youngest visitors, a special event has been organized being “The longest children’s drawing in Latvia”. The visitors to the “Open House” will also have the opportunity to see an installation artwork by Raimonds Kalējs that unifies several elements from the participants of the drawing competition “Learn about NATO” as well as the best drawings from the competition “Let’s grow along with the soldiers!”

The Latvian “Mitten Renaissance”, which happened purely because of the NATO Summit in Riga, will be presented in a room designed by the artists Kristine Jurjane and visitors will have an opportunity to meet the ladies who actually knitted the mittens. The history of the Daile theatre will be presented in the “Daile Theatre exposition” in the ground floor foyer of the building and the Daile Theatre cafe will cater for the well being of all visitors. Representatives from the LATO organization and staff of the NATO informative tent will assist visitors in clarifying any NATO questions they may have. 

In the foyer on second floor of the Daile theatre , where radio “Open House” will be operating, once every hour popular Latvian DJs: Fredis, Ēriks Loks, Jānis Vaišļa and others will hold interviews with publicly well-known persons and with visitors to the event. Next to the radio venue, artist Izolde Cēsniece will offer a fun time with an interactive game on NATO for children and adults with the winners receiving special prizes. The exhibition “Kolāža” will allow visitors to take on various images and then later see themselves in a special Internet home page.

After partaking in the activities, the large hall of the Daile theatre will offer a period for relaxation with visitors being able to enjoy the new sound and lighting equipment, the new seats and the stage setting for the show “The Other Sherlock Holmes”. 

Parents are invited to attend this event with their youngest children as a playground and professional baby-sitter services will be available.

On Saturday, November 25 everybody is welcome to attend the “Open House” from 13.00-20.00 and also on Sunday, November 26, from 11.00-20.00

For the media: On Saturday, November 25, at 12:00 in the small hall of the theatre an awards ceremony for NATO competition winners will take place. The culmination of the event will be at 15:00 when the President of the Republic Latvia, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga will join the event and a photo session with the winners and event supporters will take place.
The working language is Latvian.

The NATO Summit in Riga support committee
The “Open House” at the Daile theatre is being organized under the auspices of the NATO Riga Summit Support Committee. Support by the private sector in organizing a NATO Summit has become a tradition. This type of assistance has been provided to the organizers of prior NATO summits by creating support committees and presenting their positions on global security. The support committee has extended financial support to the Latvian government in organizing important events during the NATO summit in Riga, including a specialist conference on security issues, the Young Leader’s forum, the city festival, art competitions, the Open House at the  “Daile” theatre and other informative and educational events regarding NATO. The international support committee for the NATO Summit in Riga is headed by three co-chairpersons - Timothy P. McKone, Vice-President of the US telecommunications company AT&T, Robert G. Liberatore, Vice-President of Daimler-Chrysler and Aivis Ronis, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian-American finance forum. The Support committee function is to attract donations for the NATO Riga Summit. The support committee has received financial support from Latvian and American private companies such as Parex banka, AT&T, Daimler-Chrysler, Liepājas Metalurgs, SIA Statoil Latvija, PBK, EADS, AQMI, Health Centre Joker Klubs, Trīs A Brokeris, OVI, and the Bank of Georgia. 

Information prepared by Sandra Daubure, NATO Summit in Riga in 2006 support committee, Detailed information Daiga Holma, Porter Novelli, 29723599