Cow Parade 2012 in Ventspils

Ventspils is not only the tidiest city in Latvia, but also the richest in various art projects. This summer too, on 30 June, Ventspils residents and visitors will be delighted by the world's most popular art and patronage project "Cow Parade Ventspils 2012". Its opening will take place at 12:00 on the Ventspils Harbour Street promenade. On the opening day of "Cow Parade Ventspils 2012" various activities will take place throughout the day, and the extensive programme will close with a concert by the band "The Straits" (United Kingdom) in Reņķa dārzs.

The cows painted by internationally recognised Latvian and foreign artists will be on display in Ventspils until October.

This year the city of Ventspils has invited not only recognised Latvian artists but every resident of Latvia to paint a cow. The opportunity to create the "People's Cow" will be available to all participants of the "Cow Parade Ventspils 2012" opening event. Anyone who purchases a floral sticker for a symbolic fee and sticks it onto the cow can take part in creating the "People's Cow". Each contributor to the "People's Cow" will receive a certificate of participation in creating the artwork.

About Cow Parade

Cow Parade is the largest and most successful public art event in the world. Cow Parade uses fibreglass cows, which artists are free to decorate creatively, creating the Cow Parade exhibits. Once the cows's exhibition period is over, an auction is held where anyone who wishes can participate and purchase one of the painted cows. The proceeds from the auction go to charity. The licence and brand holder of Cow Parade is "CowParade Global Limited".

The first Cow Parade took place in Chicago in 1999. Since then Cow Parade has been held in more than 75 cities around the world: New York (2000), London (2002), Tokyo (2003, 2006 and 2009), Mexico City (2005), Buenos Aires (2006), Moscow (2006), Paris (2006), Rome (2010) and many other major cities. In 2012 Cow Parade will take place in Brazil, North Carolina (USA), Toulouse (France), Northern Ireland and Ventspils.

Source: cowparade.ventspils.lv