Estonian Song Festival
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Estonian Song Festival Üldlaulupidu | |
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Genre | Choral festival |
Date(s) | July |
Frequency | Five-year |
Venue | Tallinn Song Festival Grounds |
Location(s) | Tallinn, Estonia |
Inaugurated | 1869 |
Website | https://www.laulupidu.ee |
Baltic song and dance celebrations | |
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Country | Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania |
Reference | 00087 |
Region | Europe and North America |
Inscription history | |
Inscription | 2008 (3rd session) |
List | Representative |
The Estonian Song Festival (in Estonian: Eesti üldlaulupidu, or simply Laulupidu) is one of the largest choral events in the world, and a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.[1] The first Laulupidu was held in 1869, in Tartu.
The festival is held once every five years in July at the Song Festival Grounds in Tallinn simultaneously with the Estonian Dance Festival.[2] The joint choir has comprised over 30,000 singers performing to an audience of 80,000.[2][3]
History
[edit]The tradition of the song festival was born along with the Estonian national awakening in the mid-19th century. The first national song festival was held in Tartu in the summer of 1869.[2] One of the organisers of the first song festival was journalist and poet Johann Voldemar Jannsen. Jannsen’s daughter, Lydia Jannsen (Koidula) was the author of lyrics for two Estonian songs, Sind surmani ("Thee till death") and Mu isamaa on minu arm ("My fatherland is my love"), both of which are still in the festival repertoire today.
Alongside with the Estonian-language literature and newspapers, the choirs and song celebrations were at the core of the national awakening of the Estonian rural population who thus discovered the value of their own language and cultural heritage through singing. The resulting strengthening of the Estonian national identity would lead to the country's independence in 1918.
In the first three Laulupidu events only men's choirs (822 singers) and brass orchestras (56 brass players) participated. Starting with the fourth festival, mixed choirs were also taking part. Starting with the sixth festival in 1896, the tradition moved to Tallinn.
Over time, mixed, children's, women's, and boys' choirs, hobby symphonies, and toddler choirs were added. The first Estonian national dance festival took place in the capital city Tallinn in 1934. Since 1947, the song and the dance festivals have mostly been held at or around the same time, but at different venues, in Tallinn.
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.[4]
In 2019, the number of song festival visitors reached its maximum level ever. Almost 60,000 tickets were sold in advance for the XXVII song festival concert, and in combination with the 35,000 participating singers and musicians, the expected attendee numbers reached full capacity and the organizers had to stop any additional ticket sales for reasons of public safety.
The next song festival will be held in July 2025.
List of Song Festivals
[edit]Song Festival | Year | Place | Choirs | Performers |
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I Song Festival | 1869 | Tartu | 51 | 845 |
II Song Festival | 1879 | Tartu | 64 | 1,272 |
III Song Festival | 1880 | Tallinn | 48 | 782 |
IV Song Festival | 1891 | Tartu | 179 | 2,700 |
V Song Festival | 1894 | Tartu | 263 | 3,951 |
VI Song Festival | 1896 | Tallinn | 410 | 5,681 |
VII Song Festival | 1910 | Tallinn | 527 | 10,000 |
VIII Song Festival | 1923 | Tallinn | 386 | 10,562 |
IX Song Festival | 1928 | Tallinn | 436 | 15,049 |
X Song Festival | 1933 | Tallinn | 500 | 16,500 |
XI Song Festival | 1938 | Tallinn | 569 | 17,501 |
XII Song Festival | 1947 | Tallinn | 703 | 25,760 |
XIII Song Festival | 1950 | Tallinn | 1,106 | 31,907 |
XIV Song Festival | 1955 | Tallinn | 893 | 30,321 |
XV Song Festival | 1960 | Tallinn | 875 | 29,273 |
XVI Song Festival | 1965 | Tallinn | 690 | 25,806 |
XVII Song Festival | 1969 | Tallinn | 771 | 30,230 |
XVIII Song Festival | 1975 | Tallinn | 641 | 28,537 |
XIX Song Festival | 1980 | Tallinn | 627 | 28,969 |
XX Song Festival | 1985 | Tallinn | 677 | 26,437 |
XXI Song Festival | 1990 | Tallinn | 690 | 28,922 |
XXII Song Festival | 1994 | Tallinn | 811 | 25,802 |
XXIII Song Festival | 1999 | Tallinn | 856 | 24,875 |
XXIV Song Festival | 2004 | Tallinn | 850 | 22,759 |
XXV Song Festival | 2009 | Tallinn | 864 | 26,430 |
XXVI Song Festival | 2014 | Tallinn | 1,046[6] | 33,025[6] |
XXVII Song Festival | 2019 | Tallinn | 1,020 | 32,302 |
XXVIII Song Festival | 2025 | Tallinn |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Estonian song and dance celebration". VisitEstonia.com. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ a b c Estonian Song and Dance Celebrations Estonian Song and Dance Celebration Foundation
- ^ Lauluväljakul oli teisel kontserdil 110 000 inimest (110,000 people in the Song Festival Grounds during the second concert. In Estonian). Delfi
- ^ Dance Festival – Invented Tradition? Archived 10 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine by Marika Plakso. Estonian Institute
- ^ "Peod aastani 2029" (in Estonian). Laulu- ja Tantsupeo SA. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
- ^ a b Uudiskirjad Archived 22 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Eesti Laulu- ja Tantsupeo SA.
External links
[edit]- Official web site
- Cultural identity, nationalism and changes in singing traditions by Kristin Kuutma
- The Estonian song festival: a chameleon strategy by Evi Arujärv
- Estonian Punk Song Festival Archived 8 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine
- To Breathe As One, video about the event
- QTVR fullscreen panoramas of the Estonian Song Festival