My trip to the Estonian Song Festival

There are some things people should do at least once in their lifetime and attending the Estonian Song Festival is definitely one of them. It's a truly wonderful event that warms the heart and stills the mind, a powerful demonstration of national unity. I was so thrilled to finally be a part of it, it's an event I have wanted to go to for a very long time.

Every time I visit Estonia I make a point of experiencing something new. This time I did something I have never done before. I drove to Estonia! All across central Europe and up through the Baltics. I have Estonian friends who often do this and I always thought they were crazy. It's too far I tell them, just fly. It's quicker. But they don't seem to mind the drive.

This year I decided to drive for a numner of reasons. My brother lives in Poland and I wanted to stop by Warsaw on the way, as well as Riga and I also wanted to visit the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania. I knew I would never visit that site unless I travelled by road. This Hill of Crosses is an interesting place, it's a pilgrim site dating back to the 1830s and contains thousands of crosses, crucifixes, and other religious items.

 

The Hill of Crosses. 

Located 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai in Lithuania. 

The epic road trip to Estonia took two days to complete. The motorways in Germany and Poland were very good, but not long after passing through Vilnius, I found myself driving on single lane roads most of the time. It was slow from then on, especially when I got stuck behind a truck or a bus (there were so many trucks on the road!).

I arrived in Tallinn on the Friday, and the weather was still good then. Blue sky with a slight breeze, it was ten degrees cooler than the day before. I expected to hear a lot of different accents in the streets as I wandered around, and I did. Estonians from all around the world were in town, it was a very special time to be back in the homeland. As I stood by the traffic lights, on my way to Freedom Square, I remember looking down and seeing a Bolt delivery robot also waiting at the lights. I had to smile. This is modern Estonia. The country I love so much.

It gave me great joy to see the national costume everywhere I went that weekend. People walked around in small groups, either coming or going from an event. It was a beautiful sight. I marvelled at how pristine these clothed looked, they were so well maintained, the blouses so white. They were worn with such pride.

On Saturday it began to rain and my heart sank. It was terrible weather for a procession. Regardless, I went to watch as I was eager to see all the different groups and the regions they were from. Despite the rain, bands played merrily, people cheered and flags waved.

 

Rongkäik.

The song festival procession started at 11am from Freedom Square. 

 

There were two events that took place at the Song Festival Grounds (Lauluväljak). The opening concert on Saturday showcased songs sung in the different Estonian dialects and Sunday was the main concert. I watched the Saturday concert on T.V. and was at the Song Festival Grounds on Sunday just after 2pm. Unfortunately it rained a lot while I was there. The ground became increasingly muddy as time passed, and  it wasn't pleasant walking around to look at the stalls or to buy food. 

 

One thing I realised about attending the song festival, is that not everyone arrives at 2pm when the event starts. Some people arrive early to secure a  good place to sit, whilst others trickle in during the day. I noticed a lot of people arrived after 4pm. Reviewing the day, the concert starts with band performances, followed by children singing. The really good partriotic songs are sung much later in the day.

 

 

The main concert started at 2pm and ended around 9:30pm. 

 

The rain did put a damper on the event during the first few hours. 

Later on the weather did improve. 

 

It was great to be back in Estonia for the song festival. It was wonderful to see so many Estonians come together, cherishing our language, history and culture. It was truly marvellous.

 

Like all my holidays to Estonia, no trip is complete without a suitcase full of goodie to take home with me. Vana Tallinn and Kalev chocolates are the essentials along with black bread. Lots of black bread and usually the darker the better!