This week, the XIII Youth Song and Dance Festival "Sacred on Earth" will take place in Tallinn. Nearly ten thousand dancers and thirty thousand singers will participate. Public transport will be free for everyone in the Estonian capital. On Friday, the Dance Celebration "Bridges" begins at Kalevi Central Stadium and will continue throughout Saturday. On Sunday, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m there will be will a five-kilometer procession through Tallinn leading to the Song Festival Grounds. The Song Festival begins at 2pm.
Choral singing has a long history in Estonia, dating back to the Baltic Germans, who often used polyphonic choral singing during church services. By 1865, the first Estonian-language singing group was founded, and others followed. By singing in Estonian, these choirs helped create a national identity separate from that of the Baltic Germans and, later on, from the Russians.
The Song and Dance Celebration will be the greatest festival in Estonia this year!
