…back to Latvia

Skolas iela 15, Centra rajons, Rīga,

After being exposed to the ruin bar scene in Budapest, any other venue elsewhere that aims to achieve a similar thing becomes immediately of interest.

Riga’s basket case old town makes for an uneven and at times quite hollow night out, as the centre is overpriced and caters for stag tourism with the effect that it virtually eradicates locals. This is not to say there are no bars worthy of note, but after a while you begin to wonder where the young Rigans are actually hanging out.

K.K.C is one of the answers to that question, set in a large building which looks somewhere between a mansion house or an old municipal building. It is located north of the old town in ‘Centrs’ a fascinating district full of grandiose pre-war and inter-war buildings, a hodgepodge of interesting styles, and yet slightly sad and neglected, a mini Gotham City, if you like. The area feels like it has a lot of potential to be refurbished and preserved, but whether there is enough money to bring that about is another matter.

K.K.C has an attractive courtyard area which the building wraps around, and upon arriving (providing it’s Spring or summer) you’ll notice lots of people are happy sitting around on ledges with a beer and socialising.

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Indoors there is a mixture of art space and more conventional bar-like rooms, with friendly service, cheap decent beers and a refreshing DIY approach. The good reviews of the place are well deserved as it provides a much needed break from the norm, and in the summer especially it would be the ideal spot to hang out outside of the old town. It does have that slightly thrilling lawless feel of a squat a la Metelkova mixed with an atmospheric bohemian ruin bar – reinforced when you remind yourself K.K.C translates to Cannabis Cultural Centre – though don’t get your hopes up – Kanepe (or Hemp in Latvian) is simply the surname of the owner.

The mixture of faint dilapidation, art space and bric-a-brac creates a nice atmosphere. In some of the rooms the wooden construction of the house, choice of hung artwork and items like pianos definitely give it a feel of the lunatics taking over the asylum, which adds something on top of your usual bar going experience. Make sure you explore as there are far more rooms than initially meets the eye!

The venue has even more potential than they seem to realise, and it will be interesting to see whether they ever truly get to work on the décor, but for the time bring you can come along for its exhibitions, concerts, or more likely just for a beer and a chat to hang out. Don’t despair of the offerings in the old town – real Riga is alive and well, only a short walk away!