Registration of choirs and orchestras from outside Estonia for Song and Dance Celebration 2025 starts

From 1 November, all Estonian choirs and orchestras abroad and also foreign choirs and orchestras will be able to register for the XXVIII Song Celebration. Estonian folk dance groups abroad are also invited to take part in the XXI Dance Celebration. Those who want to register need to go to the website laulupidu.ee and read the terms and conditions, fill in the registration form and the application form. Registration for the celebration is open until 31 January 2024.

Estonian collectives abroad and foreign collectives are welcome to take part in the XXVIII Song Celebration. According to Heli Jürgenson, Artistic Director of the XXVIII Song Celebration, the programme for the Song Celebration was based on three keywords – dialects, fracture and time. Heli describes the first day’s programme as ‘well balanced’. According to the Artistic Director, the repertoire is structured in such a way that all dialects are represented. The songs on the second day’s programme speak of the power and strength of singing. The repertoire of each genre also includes works related to the dialects, fracture and time, and certainly some pieces in dialects. All the usual types of choirs, from toddlers to mixed choirs, can be seen on stage again. Of course, there are also symphony and wind orchestras.

Estonian collectives abroad are very welcome to the XXI Dance Celebration, as a separate group of Estonian collectives abroad will be formed at the 2025 Dance Celebration, called WORLDWIDE. This is an artistic decision based on the Artistic Director’s concept and it only concerns the 2025 Dance Celebration. Helena-Mariana Reimann invites all Estonian collectives abroad to attend a meeting in the Zoom environment on 13 January 2024 at 16:00 (Estonian time) to share information about participation in the XXI Dance Celebration 2025.

Helena-Mariana Reimann, Main Choreographer of the XXI Dance Celebration, says that the biggest news this time is the different approach to the division of group types, based on the staging concept of the XXI Dance Celebration. Estonia has been divided into different regions and application for the party of dancers will this time be based on regions. “So, in addition to the traditional types, the types of the dance celebration will be based on regions,” emphasises Reimann.

The XXVIII Song and Dance Celebration will be held from 3 to 6 July 2025 in Tallinn. The Artistic Director of the Song Festival is Heli Jürgenson, the Main Choreographer of the Dance Celebration is Helena-Mariana Reimann and the General Director of the Folk Music Festival is Helin Pihlap. The organiser of the Song and Dance Celebration is the Estonian Song and Dance Celebration Foundation. MORE INFORMATION.

More than 8000 dancers selected as participants at the “Bridges” dance celebration

The 274 regional preliminary auditions for the dance and gymnastics groups participating in the 13th Youth Song and Dance Celebration “Holy is the Land” have ended and the groups that will perform at the festival have been selected. A total of 431 dance collectives and 128 gymnastics groups will take part in the “Bridges” performance of the dance festival.

According to Margus Toomla, Director of the Song and Dance Celebration Foundation, the artistic committee of the 13^th Youth Dance Festival sent out invitations to 559 collectives comprising 8342 dancers and gymnasts. In addition to the usual school youth groups, family groups will also take part.

“The preliminary rehearsals for the dance festival started in mid-January and ran until the end of March. It was a great pleasure to see that the corona years have not dampened young people’s enthusiasm for dancing, and the knowledge that a dance festival is just around the corner has also helped children and young people to return to dance,” said Agne Kurrikoff-Herman, chief organiser of the Dance Festival. She added that the dedication and effort of the instructors is admirable, as the last few years have been a real challenge.

“I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the instructors, school principals and parents who contribute to the preservation of the folk-dance culture of young people,” she said. “A lot of work has been done in learning and refining the dances, and after the end of the preliminary rehearsals we can say that we are moving towards a summer highlight together.”

The artistic team will now continue to work on the dances so that they can eventually be drawn into beautiful patterns on the stadium lawn and, according to the chief director, will work on getting the dancers moving in unison. The collective leaders of the dance festival will meet in Paide on 16 April to review the movements and patterns of all the dances. “Now the groups will have to learn the final dance,” said Kurrikoff-Herman, adding that this is an exciting moment in the making of the production, with more than 8,000 dancers meeting on the square for the final dance.

The list of the groups dancing at the festival can be found here.

All the groups that bravely made the journey but did not make it this time will be invited to Kalev Stadium to watch the main rehearsal on 30 June. More information about the free tickets has already been forwarded to the groups’ supervisors.

The 13^th Youth Dance Festival focuses on the young person and their relationship with the world around them. Agne Kurrikoff-Herman, the artistic director of the Dance Festival, describes the symbol of the bridge at the heart of the festival as follows: “The young people grow up surrounded by us and relying on us. All the values that are ours, both the values of home, linked to the heritage of our ancestors, our land and our roots, the values of time and modern truths, we pass on to them.”

The 13^th Youth Song and Dance Festival will take place from 30 June to 2 July in Tallinn. On 30 June and 1 July the dance performance “Bridges”; on 1 July the folk music festival “Päriselt”. The “Holy is the Land” procession and song festival will take place on 2 July. Pärt Uusberg is the artistic director of the 13^th Youth Song Festival and Agne Kurrikoff-Herman is the artistic director of the 13^th Youth Dance Festival. Juhan Uppin will be the general manager of the Folk Music Festival.

Registration for the 13th Youth Song and Dance Celebration Holy is the Land

Registration for the 13th Youth Song Celebration Holy is the Land is open from 10 November 2021 to 28 February 2022. Groups wishing to participate at the celebration need to fill out an application at https://2023.laulupidu.ee/en/.

The 13th Youth Song and Dance Celebration will be held in Tallinn from 30 June to 2 July 2023. The Artistic Director of the Song Celebration is Pärt Uusberg, the Artistic Director of the Dance Celebration is Agne Kurrikoff-Herman and the Artistic Director of the Folk Music Celebration is Juhan Uppin. The Celebration’s visual identity has been custom-made by Mart Anderson.

The motto of the 13th Youth Song and Dance Celebration is Holy is the Land. According to the artistic directors the word holy is not very common in our daily lives and is usually saved for something truly special, something that deserves our deepest respect and should not be violated. On our journey towards the song, dance and folk music celebration we will learn to notice and to cherish more the holy in each day – the mother tongue, the motherland and our common home, planet Earth. This idea has inspired both the Song Celebration and the Folk Music Celebration artistic teams, and the Dance Celebration will be telling the story of the values becoming deep rooted in our souls.

The visual identity of the 13th Youth Song and Dance Celebration was created by Mart Anderson who is also the Chief Designer of the Celebration. He won the contest for the celebration’s visual identity, organised with the Estonian Design Centre. Anderson’s design language features a modern and energetic original typeface complemented with signature shapes, a background pattern and a special colour palette. His designs will also include graphic works of outstanding Estonian artists.