Estonian Song Festival

History

The tradition of the song festivals (laulupidu, Sängerfest) was born along with Estonian national awakening. The first Estonia-wide laulupidu was held in Tartu in the summer of 1869. One of the organisers of the first song festival was Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In the first three events only men's choirs and brass orchestras participated. 822 singers and 56 brass players participated in the first. Starting with the fourth, mixed choirs were also participating. Starting with the sixth in 1896, the celebration tradition moved to Tallinn.

The Dance and Gymnastic Festival (part of the first Estonian Games held in 1934) was the predecessor of subsequent Estonian Dance Festivals which are now held, by tradition, at the same time with the Song Celebration in Tallinn.

After the Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia during World War II, the tradition of Estonia-wide song festivals was permitted to continue. However, during all the Song Festivals from 1947 to 1985, the singing of the Estonian national anthem and the display of the flag of Estonia or any other "anti-Soviet" symbols was strictly prohibited. The Soviet occupation authorities instead forced communist anthems into the repertoire along with songs mandatorily glorifying the Soviet Communist Party and its leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. Because of the inclusion of children's and boys' choirs the total number of participants rose to 25,000 – 30,000 people.

Since 1990, almost every Song Celebration has featured the most symbolic Estonian songs "Mu isamaa on minu arm", "Ta lendab mesipuu poole", and the national anthem "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm".

In 2019, the number of visitors to the song celebration reached its maximum. Nearly 60,000 tickets were sold from the pre-sale for the XXVII Song Celebration 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 organisers for the safety and security of people.

List of Song Celebrations

References

References

1. "Estonian song and dance celebration".
2. [http://laulupidu.ee/english/history/ Estonian Song and Dance Celebrations] Estonian Song and Dance Celebration Foundation
3. Delfi]]
4. [http://www.einst.ee/culture/I_MMIV/plakso.html Dance Festival – Invented Tradition?] {{webarchive. link. (10 June 2007 by Marika Plakso. [[Estonian Institute]])
5. "Peod aastani 2029". Laulu- ja Tantsupeo SA.
6. [http://2014.laulupidu.ee/kulaline/uudiskirjad/ Uudiskirjad] {{webarchive. link. (22 November 2015 . Eesti Laulu- ja Tantsupeo SA.)