Tallinn 4-6 July 2014
This is the story of time manifesting itself in our ancestors’ heritage and us shaping our time through our own touches, contacts, caresses and impacts.
Song and dance celebrations are an old and very important tradition for Estonia and Estonians (the first song celebration took place in 1869 and the first dance celebration in 1934) and these celebrations are nowadays held every five years. In 2003 our tradition of song and dance celebrations was entered to UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Read the history of Estonian Song and Dance Celebration.
Ticket sales will begin on February 1, 2014.
Information about the beginning of the ticket sales: laulupidu@piletilevi.ee
The programme
Friday, 4 July 2014.
2 p.m. The main rehearsal-performance of the 19th dance celebration Puudutus (The Touch). Location: Tallinn, Kalev Central Stadium. Length: about 2 hours. Open air. Admission with tickets.
6 p.m. The first performance of the 19th dance celebration Puudutus (The Touch). Location: Tallinn, Kalev Central Stadium. Length: about 2 hours. Open air. Admission with tickets.
Saturday 5th of July 2014
11 a.m. The second performance of the 19th dance celebration Puudutus (The Touch). Location: Tallinn, Kalev Central Stadium. Length: about 2 hours. Open air. Admission with tickets.
2 p.m. Procession. The route of the about 5-kilometer-long procession has its beginning in the centre of town and the procession will end at Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. The procession can be followed by everyone without a ticket throughout the whole length of the procession.
8 p.m. The first concert of the 26th song celebration Aja puudutus (Touched by Time). Location: Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Length: about 4 hours. Open air. Admission with tickets. The beginning of the concert is estimated. The concert will begin right after the end of the procession.
Sunday 6th of July 2014
11 a.m. The third performance of the 19th dance celebration Puudutus (The Touch). Location: Tallinn, Kalev Central Stadium. Length: about 2 hours. Open air. Admission with tickets.
12 a.m. The second concert of the 26th song celebration Puudutuse aeg (The Time to Touch). Location: Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Length: about 7 hours. Open air. Admission with tickets.
The performances and concerts of the song and dance celebration are held in the open air.
In the course of three days the participants of the dance celebration (altogether about 8,500 performers) will give three identical performances (on the 4th, 5th and 6th of July). All of the performances take place in Tallinn, at Kalev Central Stadium, and the number of seats is limited. The audience will watch the performances on the grandstands of the stadium.
The joint procession of the song and dance celebration participants will take place on July the 5th and The procession will begin in the centre of Tallinn and will then proceed to Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. The journey from the centre of town to the Song Festival Grounds is about 5 kilometres long and it can be followed by everyone without a ticket throughout the whole length of the journey.
The procession will be followed by the 1st concert of the song celebration at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. The concert begins with joint choirs (altogether about 20 000 performers). This year the concert will be about 4 hours long and the repertoire will consist of the beloved Estonian choral music performed at song celebrations over the years. The audience needs to purchase tickets to listen to the concert.
The 2nd concert of the song celebration will take place on the 6th of July. This concert is about seven hours long and will consist of the performances of various choir types and orchestras.The audience needs to purchase tickets to listen to this concert, as well.
Different tickets can be purchased for the song celebration concerts. The first rows are usually equipped with individual seats. The rows behind these seats are equipped with benches and the area behind the benches – the biggest area of the song festival ground – is for those who buy a general admission ticket.
The prices of the song and dance celebration tickets will most probably be in the range of 10 to 25 Euros.
It is important to note that no matter what the weather conditions the performances will all take place in the open air.
Therefore, considering the changing nature of the weather in Estonia in summer, the audience must be prepared both for very hot sunny weather as well as for wind and rain.
It is highly probable that umbrellas and other such items are not be allowed to the song and dance celebration performances, hence the audience needs to wear suitable clothes and take along a raincoat, just in case.
