Welcome to your weekly guide to concerts, exhibitions and festivals in the Latvian capital! Published every Friday morning - follow on Facebook for regular updates.

Learn more about my tours in Riga and Latvia.

Wish Latvia's capital many happy returns at Riga's birthday celebrations this weekend!

A slew of cultural activities will mark 824 years since the city was founded in 1201. Highlights include an audio-visual water show in the City Canal, concerts and magic shows in Vērmanes Garden, an artisan market on Doma Square, popular musicians and DJs on 11. novembra Embankment and street musicians throughout Old Town, and the Stelzen street art performers from Riga's sister city Bremen in Bastejkalns.

August 16 and 17, free entry.

I'm your guide for walks around Old Riga, marvellous Art Nouveau architecture, and the highlights of the Latvian capital.Or for a blast from the past on a Soviet history tour.

Organist Jānis Pēlmanis plays a programme titled Perpetuum Mobile in Dubulti Lutheran Church. Friday August 15, 18:00, free entry.

Every Thursday in summer, enjoy jazz concerts in the garden of the Small Guild. From 17:00, free entry. And Fridays there's pop and folk in Vērmanes Park. From 19:00, free entry.

This week in Vērmanes Park, enjoy the stunning voice of Ilona Bagele and Riga's Smallest Orchestra.

Enjoy a sunny stroll in Jurmala, a daytrip to Kemeri National Park, a drive to beautiful Kurzeme or a tour to spectacular Sigulda.

Get tipsy in style at the Independent Brewers' Festival at Āgenskalns Market. Large and small makers of the amber nectar will offer their wares, from traditional bitters to fruity summer concoctions. And to line the stomach, check in to a free kebab making workshop at 13:00. Saturday August 16, 10:00-17:00, free entry.

Get your gills over to Fish Day at Jūrmala's Open Air Fishing Museum. Every Thursday, learn how to smoke cure fish and make fish soup, as well as picking up nautical skills like rope making and net mending. 12:00-14:00, 5 euros.

Savour Latvian flavours on a one-hour English-language gastro tour in Āgenskalns Market. The price includes tastings from seven vendors of cheese, smoked fish and meat, bread and more. Vegetarian and vegan options are available. Every Thursday at 11:00, tickets are 35 euros.

Travel easy in Latvia and Riga with my disabled accessible tours.

Discover a deeply personal expression of Latvian identity in the exhibition "Latvian Identity In the Flesh" at the Latvians Abroad Museum. Scholar Daina Grosa has studied hundreds of tattoos adorning the bodies of Latvians in exile, from mythology to nature scenes to Freedom Monuments. The show explores the stories of 24 people and their body art, like Australia's Māra Moore, pictured here. Until September 26, during museum opening hours, free entry.

Founded in 1773, the Museum of Riga's History and Navigation is the oldest museum in the Baltics. To help visitors get a grip on the tens of thousands of items in its collection, every week in summer the institution is holding "long Fridays" when it is open till 19:00, as well as tours in English at 14:00 (9.50 euros per adult). More info.

Discover the century-old Splendid Palace Cinema with a guided tour of the magnificent neo-rococo building. 18 June, 12 July and 26 July at 16:00, tickets are 16 euros.