The theme of XXVI Viljandi Folk Music Festival is “Full on!”
The Republic of Estonia is celebrating its hundredth birthday in 2018. The theme of the festival “Full on!” best reflects its youthful and bubbling energy. Estonia is ours, alive and kicking and beaming with the power of a hundred! We want to bring together the younger generation of folk music professionals and future talents from home and abroad.
We want to gift the Republic of Estonia a festival which displays the future folk music talents of this country. Estonia is turning hundred but our people and folk culture is thousands of years old. We have not become great in numbers but in spirit, like Jakob Hurt once dreamt. We have our own living, authentic and unique traditional music which we can share with the world and which no one else in the world can play better – Estonia is a terrific country!
This year’s programme opens both the larger and smaller stages for young musicians in order to surprise our guests with fresh energy. Estonia’s greatest resource is its talented people.
We are offering young traditional musicians the opportunity to perform at the Youngster’s stage. During the four days of the festival, there will be numerous concerts held by the winners of youngster’s traditional band competitions and fresh new bands which are formed in the spring with the help of Estonian Traditional Music Center. We help young musicians, who do not have a band, to find band members and mentors.
We will also invite magnificent musicians from all our neighbouring countries and guests from the Prince Edward Island, China, Austria, USA and many other countries. The best musicians of the new generation from both nearby and faraway will get the chance to meet at the festival.
We also want to provide each festival guest with at least one new skill in addition to the concert experiences, be it a song, tune, craftwork, good idea or experience. The guests can pick the ones they like the most from a diverse workshop programme and meet living tradition face to face. An authentic experience can be waiting around the corner, in the shared dance rhythm, at a spontaneous singing session or while enjoying instrumental tunes.
Jakob Hurt once said, “Estonians are not flies who are born today and die tomorrow but an old and sturdy nation who has been living in this world for a long time and will outlive us all.”
Let’s face the next century full on!
