Coming to Liepāja in 2027: What the Programme Actually Looks Like

The Liepāja 2027 programme runs from April to December — nine months of events, exhibitions, performances, residencies, and community projects across a city of 70,000 people and two surrounding regions. If you are thinking about visiting, the practical question is: what is actually happening, and is it worth the trip?

The honest answer is that the full programme is still being confirmed. What is already scheduled is enough to make a case. What is coming will be announced progressively through 2026 and into 2027.

This is what the year looks like from here.

How the Programme Is Structured

The (un)rest programme operates through five thematic strands. They are not separate festivals. They are lenses through which different events are framed.

European Dream asks what European identity means when you’re in a city that spent fifty years being told what it was. It looks at solidarity, democracy, and the questions that European culture is currently trying to answer.

Port Paradox is the most Liepāja-specific strand — the contradictions that define the city. Military and musical. Soviet and free. Industrial and artisan. The programme does not resolve these contradictions. It works with them.

New Eyes focuses on rediscovering local communities through unfamiliar perspectives. It involves the full territory — Liepāja city, South Kurzeme, and Kuldīga — and is as much about residents seeing their own place differently as it is about international visitors arriving.

Deliberate Modesty addresses the relationship between the Baltic coast and the natural environment, and the broader question of what sustainable cultural life looks like when you are not a major metropolis.

Creative Foresight is the technology and innovation strand — connecting digital and analogue, younger and older generations, urban and rural communities across the (un)rest land.

Events throughout the year draw from one or more of these strands. Knowing them helps make sense of why a symposium about amber and a community festival about peace are both part of the same programme.

Opening: April 2027

The programme opens in April 2027. The first confirmed anchor event is Sun & Sea (Saulė ir jūra) — the Lithuanian opera that won the Golden Lion at the 2019 Venice Biennale, making its Latvian debut at the Great Amber Concert Hall from 8 to 11 April. It runs several times per day and is a standing event, staged on an artificial beach with the audience on balconies above.

This is a strong opening. It signals the register the programme is working in — international, formally ambitious, locally resonant. Sun & Sea was developed from Baltic Sea memories. It arrives in a city on the Baltic Sea with a derelict naval base on its northern edge. The fit is not accidental.

Tickets are already on sale through Biļešu Paradīze. The price increases from 1 September 2026.

What Else Is Coming

Pre-programme events are already underway. In June 2026, the ElektrON – The Future of Amber symposium brought international artists and researchers to Liepāja and Pāvilosta to examine amber as both cultural symbol and contested resource. The resulting exhibition opens at the Liepāja Museum on 8 January 2027 — the formal start of the ECoC year.

The (un)rest programme is an open co-financing call for independent organisations across Latvia, meaning the full event list will continue to grow as applications are approved. This is worth knowing: some of the best events in any Capital of Culture year are announced six months out, not two years in advance.

What is clear is the programme’s geography. Events happen not just in Liepāja city but across South Kurzeme and the Kuldīga Region — including Kuldīga itself, whose Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Three Territories

Visitors who come only to Liepāja city will miss part of the picture. The (un)rest land is a concept that covers three distinct territories, each with its own character.

Liepāja city is the hub — the Great Amber Concert Hall, the Theatre, the Museum, the MPLab at RTU Academy. The main programme is centred here.

South Kurzeme Region is the largest municipality in Latvia by area. It includes coastal villages, the artist residency at Pāvilosta, and the town of Grobiņa — the oldest settlement mentioned in Latvian written records. Amber washes up on its beaches.

Kuldīga Region is different again — inland, quieter, medieval. Kuldīga town sits on the Venta River. The Suiti cultural space in Alsunga is on UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage list. Kuldīga’s Old Town is UNESCO World Heritage. These are not footnotes. They are reasons to extend a trip.

What to Know Before You Go

The programme runs nine months, which means different things to different visitors. A weekend in April for the opening events is a different experience from a week in July or a long autumn weekend in October.

Most exhibition and community events are free. Ticketed events — major performances, opera, large-scale concerts — sell out in advance. The Great Amber Concert Hall has a finite capacity and a reputation that attracts audiences from across the Baltics and beyond.

Liepāja does not have an airport with regular commercial service. It is reached by road or bus from Riga (three hours), by car from Lithuania and Estonia, or by Stena Line ferry from Travemünde in Germany. The ferry connection matters — it brings visitors from Germany and Scandinavia who come specifically for the city.

English is spoken at hotels and major venues. Beyond that, Latvian or Russian will serve you better, though younger Latvians often have some English. If you have a local contact, use them.

About the European Capital of Culture

The ECoC designation is awarded by the European Commission to cities across the continent — three per year, one from each of three country groupings. For 2027, the three are Liepāja (Latvia), Évora (Portugal), and České Budějovice (Czech Republic). The designation runs for one full calendar year and comes with European funding, international visibility, and the expectation that the city will use it to build something lasting. What Liepāja builds with it is the interesting question.

Planning Your Visit

Liepāja is a three-hour drive or bus journey from Riga, or reachable by Stena Line ferry from Travemünde. For accommodation, getting around Liepāja and the surrounding territories, and a practical guide to the city, liepajaguide.com has the full picture. The official programme is at liepaja2027.lv.

Sources: Liepāja 2027 Programme Vision · Main Goals · Official site — liepaja2027.lv · liepajaguide.com