Tuesday, June 9, 2009 (the article was published around the globe on hundreds of media websites, dailies etc.)
Tiny Estonia tunes up for giant national-pride choir
by Anneli Reigas
Twenty-two thousand Estonians will sing together in a single choir when
their small Baltic nation hosts a traditional festival that preserved
national identity through decades of Soviet occupation.
"Competing for your right to sing at least once in your life in that giant
choir during our traditional song festival is an essential part of being
Estonian," said Mati Maarits, 50, who has sung in all the festivals except
one since 1969.
This year's event called "To Breathe as One" takes place from July 2-5 in
Tallinn, including some 37,000 performers -- singers, dancers and musicians
from various orchestras -- with many people parading through the capital in
traditional costume.
Tens of thousands of Estonians from nearly one thousand choirs competed this
past winter to join the giant choir which has been the highlight of the
traditional event held regularly since 1869.
"For Estonians singing is a way to express our identity," Maarits said of
his homeland, an ex-Soviet state of just 1.3 million which joined the
European Union in 2004.
Estonia's giant song festivals were venues of resistance under nearly 50
years of Soviet occupation which ended in August 1991.
In addition to a traditional repertoire, all song festivals ended with both
singers and their audiences of some 200,000 standing and tearfully singing
the patriotic song "My Dear Fatherland".
This was the cradle of what became known as Estonia's "Singing Revolution",
a string of mass demonstrations against the Soviet occupation that began in
1987 and united 300,000 protesters in song.
The Singing Revolution lasted more than four years, bringing together
Estonians in spontaneous acts of musical defiance. In 1991 Soviet tanks
failed to crush the independence movement which came to fruition that
August.
After sovereignty was restored, fears that the song festival tradition would
fail to attract younger generations proved unfounded as tens of thousands
continued to compete for a spot on the national stage.
Ants Soots, chief conductor of the song festival, told AFP that the event
has lasted for some 140 years because "for Estonians culture is a form to
feel our national identity."
An audience of up to 200,000 is expected to watch two open-air concerts in
the capital during this year's festival.
For participants, most of the cost of attending the festival, including
accommodation and meals -- literally tonnes of soup -- are paid for by the
state. Tallinn city council also grants free public transport to all
participants.
The song fest will be aired live on television and can be watched via the
Internet at the Estonian public broadcasting company site at
http://www.etv.ee/otse.
Thousands of children from choirs around Estonia join song celebrations.
View behind the song festival ground at Tallinn bay. In June 2017 extraordinary miracle happened here over Tallinn Bay.
