After sharp discussions at the meeting of the Subcommittee on Business Development of the Saeima, the Latvian National Culture Center (LNKC) promises to revise the participation fee for artisans in the Song Festival markets.
After sharp discussions at the meeting of the Subcommittee on Business Development of the Saeima, the Latvian National Culture Center (LNKC) promises to revise the participation fee for artisans in the Song Festival markets.
LNKC’s offer stipulates that 121 euros per day must be paid for a 3×3 meter tent in Värmanes garden. But the market lasts for eight days, so they are 968 euros in total. At the meeting, the artisans expressed their confusion about how the price is formed – 121 euros per day.
LNKC explained that the participation fee was calculated based on the basis of the previous Song Festival, applying the inflation rate and percentages of the service provider’s price increases – the increase in the costs of security services, waste removal, and cleaning. For example, the costs of security services are said to have doubled – in 2018 they were 15 euros per hour, this year they are 27 euros per hour.
At the moment, 140 artisans have applied to participate in the market in Vermanes garden. However, as the artisans pointed out in the commission, artisans who cannot pay such a participation fee have also applied, so it is assumed that at least one third of them will withdraw their participation.
The members of the commission also emphasized that it is not clear how the cost estimate was formed. Artūrs Butāns (NA), the chairman of the business development subcommittee, stated that he does not see a justification for the specific participation fee. According to the deputy, such a fee will mean that the craftsman pays for the inflation of another industry.
Jānis Grasbergs (NA) believes that it is strange that the cultural program is included in an expenditure item that is not related to trade in nature. In the deputy’s opinion, the criterion for participating in the fair cannot be how much the craftsman can pay, but the artistic value should be assessed.
LNKC emphasized that it cannot provide such a large number of visitors, which is approximately 5,000 visitors per day, without a cultural program. Also, LNKC emphasized that the primary event of the Song Festival is a cultural program, not markets. Specifically, the cost of the Vermanes garden program is 250,000 euros, but the artisans’ payment will not cover all the costs.
Deputy Arnolds Jātnieks (NA) also stated that the calculation procedure is not completely clear. In his opinion, all entrepreneurs are taxpayers who also pay for the organization of the Song Festival.
If during the meeting the representatives of LNKC indicated that the membership fee will not change, then at the end of the meeting they promised to come up with another offer within a week, while emphasizing that the membership fee will certainly not be lower than in 2018.
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