Positivus Festival () is an annual, two-day summer music and culture festival that was held in Salacgrëva from 2007 to 2019. After two cancelled editions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia, the festival moved to the capital city of Riga from 2022, but on 2026 festival going change format and held one day in Meà ¾aparks Great Bandstand.
First held in 2007, Positivus combines a variety of genres, including indie, pop, folk, electronic and more styles in between. The festival is organized by Positivus Music. The festival in its early years took place during an extended weekend â from Thursday afternoon until Sunday morning of the third week of July. It is a festival with international chart toppers and underground emerging talent.
Over the years there have been up to six live stages featuring around 60âÂÂ70 artists every year on average, most notably including Pixies, Alt-J, Ellie Goulding (multiple years), The Lumineers, Hot Chip, John Newman, Placebo, M83, Air, Iggy Pop, Tom Odell (multiple years), Elbow, Daughter, Kraftwerk, Bastille, The Kooks, Sigur Rós, Imagine Dragons, The XX, Hurts, OK Go, Muse and many others. The festival line-up usually consists of a number of chart topping artists as well as new performers from all over the world, with Latvian artists having a strong presence. At its Salacgriva location, the festival took place only 12 km from the Estonian-Latvian border and therefore saw a strong attendance of Estonian visitors, musicians, caterers, and marketers as well as festival personnel, rendering Positivus an unofficial yearly meeting of the two neighbour countries. Estonians called it "Estonia's biggest music festival in Latvia".
From 2007 through 2019, Positivus was held in the Latvian coastal town of Salacgrëva located between the A1 Via Baltica highway and the beach of the Riga Bay. The festival offered access to meadows, forests, the beach, as well as the local town of Salacgrëva.
From 2007 through 2019, the festival camping site was located on the other side of the A1 Via Baltica road, directly across from the festival venue, and it was sponsored by Merrild Coffee, which provided complementary coffee refills for campers during the entire festival. The camping grounds also had catering services. The car parking was located within a short distance from the camping site. As of 2016, there was a separated area for caravans and trailer houses.
The 2023 festival was held on July 14 and 15 in Lucavsala Park, Riga, Latvia. It was headlined by Sam Smith and Metro Boomin.
The 2022 festival was held for the first time in Lucavsala Park in the capital city of Riga on July 15 and 16. It was headlined by ASAP Rocky, Megan Thee Stallion, and Jamie xx.
The festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival took place on July 26âÂÂ27, 2019.
The festival took place on July 20âÂÂ22, 2018.
The festival took place on July 14âÂÂ16, 2017.
The festival took place on July 15âÂÂ17, 2016.
The event took place on July 17âÂÂ19, 2015.
The event took place on July 18âÂÂ20, 2014.
In 2013 for the first time ever the festival lasted for three days, taking place on July 19âÂÂ21, 2013.
The event took place on 20 and 21 July 2012.
The event took place on 15 and 16 July 2011.
The festival was held on 16 and 17 July 2010.
The festival was held on 17 and 18 July 2009.
The festival was held from 18 to 19 July 2008. It was attended by approximately 18,000 people.
It was the first PositivusAB festival. The festival was held from 27 to 28 July 2007.