The story
Viljandi Folk Music Festival in Viljandi
Founded in 1993 and organized by the Estonian Traditional Music Center, Viljandi Folk Music Festival draws tens of thousands to a hilltop lakeside town in late July for four days of Estonian and international folk, roots and traditional music staged around a ruined medieval castle and the historic town center.
Viljandi Folk Music Festival began in 1993, in the early years after Estonia regained independence, and has grown into one of the largest folk and roots music festivals in the Baltic and Nordic region, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to a town of roughly twenty thousand people each late July.