Linda Kilevica warns: cultural organizers threaten to flood Liepāja with events

Liepāja's cultural landscape is preparing a catastrophe that surpasses even the tram traffic jams on Graudu Street. Linda Kilevica, who apparently is the only one capable of predicting the cultural apocalypse, warns: organizers might retreat into their shells. Only nobody has explained what happens when a cultural worker retreats into their shell. Do they become a snail? Do they start living in Karosta bunkers?

Next year's summer promises to be so saturated with events that even Riga's festival organizers will weep with envy. While people in the capital stand in lines to Mežaparks, Liepāja residents will have to choose between a hundred different events. "I don't know whether to go to a rock concert or an art exhibition," says Gunārs from Karosta. "It used to be simple - either Bird Island or sitting at home."

What's most worrying is that all cultural organizers are hoping for the same audience. It's like with the cafés in the old town - everyone thinks their latte is more special than their neighbor's latte. "The competition will be so intense that organizers will start offering free cakes and tram tickets," predicts Maija from the South Kurzeme market. "But that's not bad - finally there'll be somewhere to go if you get tired of looking at the sea."

Indeed, the European Capital of Culture year is like a double-edged sword - simultaneously an opportunity and a challenge. Let's just hope that organizers don't retreat into their shells so deeply that they forget why they started organizing cultural events in the first place. After all, Liepāja is a city where even in winter people go to concerts, because there's always something interesting here. And if there isn't - you can always go to Bird Island and listen to the sea waves gurgling.