One of the hottest days of the year couldn’t keep thousands from celebrating the Latvian Song & Dance Festival downtown or the popular singer’s Meijer Gardens debut on Thursday. Recaps, photos.
Cultural Celebration: Images from the opening salvo of Grand Rapids’ first Latvian Song & Dance Festival. (Photos/John Sinkevics/David Zadvinskis)
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO, PHOTO GALLERY & MATTEO BOCELLI COVERAGE
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For West Michigan’s Latvian-American community, Thursday’s early evening parade through downtown Grand Rapids of more than 1,000 Latvians in traditional costumes from across the country — and from Latvia — was at once stirring, gratifying and rewarding.
Thursday’s parade and opening ceremony for the first Latvian Song & Dance Festival ever held in Grand Rapids was a joyful celebration of the Baltic country’s culture, filled with everything from audience sing-alongs and nods to time-honored customs to an energetic, event-closing performance by Rikši, a popular post-folklore and ethno-pop group from Latgale, a region in eastern Latvia.
Part of the international, five-day festival that features music and dance performances at several Grand Rapids venues — including Van Andel Arena, DeVos Performance Hall, GLC Live at 20 Monroe, St. Cecilia Music Center and elsewhere — the official kickoff was even covered by representatives of Latvian television and symbolized the importance of preserving the cultural traditions of this small European country by the families of those who immigrated here after World War II.
Some of those festival events actually took place on Wednesday, with a moving, sacred concert at the Basilica of St. Adalbert and a jazz show by the New York-based Latvian-Lithuanian duo Gingersnap at Rapid River Stillhouse on the city’s West Side. And Thursday also saw a “parade of national costumes” at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and an ethereal, modern dance performance at DeVos Performance Hall by the acclaimed Daiļrade dance troupe from Riga, Latvia.
Many visitors and attendees from across the country flooded the arts and crafts marketplace at Amway Grand Plaza Hotel as well as an art exhibit by Latvian-American artists.
In all, the festival will feature more than 400 singers and nearly 800 dancers from across the country and from overseas. Today’s lineup includes a Riga Cathedral Choir School Mixed Choir Concert at St. Cecilia Music Center and a contemporary music concert at GLC Live at 20 Monroe featuring the Latvian dance/hip-hop/party band Bermudu Divstūris and country/rock band Apvedceļš. (More about those bands here.)
View the full festival schedule in this Local Spins preview. – By John Sinkevics
VIDEO: Latvia Song & Dance Festival: Opening Days
PHOTO GALLERY: Latvian Song & Dance Festival (Wednesday/Thursday)
Photos by John Sinkevics, David Zadvinskis
Meijer Gardens crowd spends evening ‘Falling in Love’ with Matteo Bocelli
Diverse Stylings: Matteo Bocelli on stage at Meijer Gardens. (Photo/Steve Baran)
Braving another sweltering heat advisory, fans from across West Michigan fell in love with an Italian contemporary pop and classical crossover star on Thursday.
After opener Stephan Moccio worked his magic on the piano – including both originals and recognizable tunes on which he helped collaborate – the crowd cheered as Matteo Bocelli took the stage with his band.
Bocelli, on tour promoting his 2025 album, “Falling in Love,” had the crowd cheering for each powerful note. Working from his impressively versatile catalogue, as well as drawing from other skilled artists with whom he has collaborated in the past, he left the crowd mesmerized.
The consummate entertainer, he went from delivering powerful vocals on a somber ballad to calling fans to the front to dance to an uptempo number — and then headed off-stage to join them.
He performed in front of a lone microphone stand, or seated at a gorgeous piano center stage, or even behind an acoustic guitar for a few powerful songs during the evening’s finale.
Regardless of instrument, Bocelli left no doubt that while he draws inspiration from others — including his operatic father, Andrea Bocelli — he takes that spirit and turns it into a style, a tone and a voice truly his own. – By Matt Marn
NEXT UP AT MEIJER GARDENS: Ziggy Marley with J Boog plays Meijer Gardens on July 10. Tickets, $100, available here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Matteo Bocelli at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Steve Baran
