The Estonian Song Festival (in

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

: ''laulupidu'', ) is one of the largest

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

events in the world, a

Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and th ...

. It is held every five years in July on the

Tallinn Song Festival Grounds The Tallinn Song Festival Grounds ( et, Lauluväljak) are the grounds on which the Estonian Song Festival is held every five years. History of song festivals In 1869 Johann Voldemar Jannsen established the Estonian Song Festival while the natio ...

(''Lauluväljak'') simultaneously with the

Estonian Dance Festival The Estonian Dance Festival is a national dance and gymnastics celebration currently held every five years at the Kalevi Keskstaadion in Tallinn, Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in North ...

.Estonian Song and Dance Celebrations
Estonian Song and Dance Celebration Foundation The joint choir has comprised more than 30,000 singers performing to an audience of 80,000. Almost every Festival features famous Estonian songs " Laul Põhjamaast", "

Mu isamaa on minu arm "Mu isamaa on minu arm" ("My Fatherland is My Love") is an Estonian poem by Lydia Koidula. The poem was first set to music for the first Estonian Song Festival in 1869 by Aleksander Kunileid. "Mu isamaa on minu arm" became a very popular patrioti ...

" and the national anthem "

Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm "" (; "My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy") is the national anthem of Estonia. It was adopted as the national anthem () in 1920. The lyrics were written by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and are set to a melody composed in 1848 by Fredrik Pacius, Fre ...

History

The tradition of the song festival was born along with

Estonian national awakening The Estonian Age of Awakening ( et, Ärkamisaeg) is a period in history where Estonians came to acknowledge themselves as a nation deserving the right to govern themselves. This period is considered to begin in the 1850s with greater rights bein ...

. The first national song festival was held in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

in the summer of 1869. One of the organisers of the first song festival was

Johann Voldemar Jannsen Johann Voldemar Jannsen ( in Vändra, Kreis Pernau, Livonia, Russian Empire – , in Tartu) was an Estonian journalist and poet active in Livonia. He wrote the words of the patriotic song "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm", which later became the ...

. In the first three festivals only men's choirs and brass orchestras participated. 822 singers and 56 brass players participated in the first festival. Starting with the fourth festival, mixed choirs were also participating. Starting with the sixth festival in 1896, the festival tradition moved to Tallinn. Starting from 1947, the Soviet authorities forced foreign songs into the repertoire. Every event was to include the State Anthem of the Estonian SSR,

The Internationale "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...

, and the

State Anthem of the Soviet Union The "State Anthem of the Soviet Union" was the national anthem of the Soviet Union and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, replacing "The Internationale". Its original lyrics were written b ...

. Because of the inclusion of children's and boys' choirs the total number of participants rose to 25,000 – 30,000 people. The Dance and Gymnastic Festival of the First Estonian Games started in 1934 became predecessors of later National Dance Festivals accompanying the song festival.Dance Festival – Invented Tradition?
by Marika Plakso.

Estonian Institute The Estonian Institute ( Estonian: ''Eesti Instituut'') is a non-governmental and non-profit organisation based in Tallinn aiming to promote Estonian culture abroad. The institute was founded in 1988/1989 as a shadow foreign office for the Est ...

In 2019, the number of visitors to the song festival reached its maximum. Nearly 60,000 tickets were sold from the pre-sale for the XXVII song festival "Minu arm"("My love") concert, and together with the 35,000 singers and musicians participating, a situation had been reached where the pre-sale of tickets was suspended by the decision of the organizers for the safety and security of people. Laulupeomuuseum

List of Song Festivals

References

External links

Official web site
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071109215808/http://www.einst.ee/culture/I_MMIV/arujarv.html The Estonian song festival: a chameleon strategy by ''Evi Arujärv''br>Estonian Punk Song Festival''To Breathe As One''
video about the event
QTVR fullscreen panoramas
of the Estonian Song Festival {{Authority control Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity 1869 establishments in the Russian Empire Classical music festivals in Estonia Music festivals established in 1869 Summer events in Estonia Music in Tallinn Culture in Tartu