The story
Estonian Song and Dance Celebration in Tallinn
The Estonian Song and Dance Celebration has run roughly every five years since 1923, gathering tens of thousands of choir singers, folk dancers and orchestras at Tallinn's Song Festival Grounds. Tracing back to the first celebration in Tartu in 1869, the tradition was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2003 and played a documented role in Estonia's Singing Revolution toward independence.
The first Estonian song celebration, held in Tartu in the summer of 1869, gathered 822 singers and 56 brass players under organiser Johann Voldemar Jannsen, a key figure in Estonia's nineteenth-century national awakening.