Estonian Song Festivals

After seeing the Singing revolution trailer. I researched a little into the awesome tradition of song festivals and mass public singing in Estonia, and also some of it's Baltic neighbors. And, heads, up-- the music is good.

"The Riverdale Choral Society (RCS) has just returned from Estonia, Finland and Russia after participating in the Estonian United Song Festival, an event organized every five years since 1869. RCS members were among the 35,000 choral singers, dancers, and instrumentalists who performed for an audience of about 200,000. Unusual this year was the presence of 49 foreign choruses, including those from the Estonian diaspora (mainly in the United States, Canada, Australia and Sweden), as well as six American choruses independent of the American/Estonian communities."



"The performance may not have provided the highest possible quality of music making, but it certainly was a special human experience. Seeing composers and conductors cheered, as rock or sports stars are the U.S., was unforgettable. The President of Estonia spoke, and even though many couldn't understand his words, his presence showed the importance of choral music in our host country."





Then things went wrong and a rotten stepchild was conceived called the Estonian Punk Song Festival.