Under the theme this year “Roots and Tops”, the festival, on the hill of Viljandi Castle in the city center, ended on Sunday evening and, noted festival leader Ando Kiviberg: “The party dedicated to youth has clearly demonstrated how wonderfully healthy the future is. and health of Estonian traditional music.”

“Alongside this, a new generation of very talented, energetic and excellent musicians is growing up – for whom tradition has always been around them as a natural phenomenon. The powerful and energetic influence of this new generation s ‘ is very strongly felt at this year’s festival, and we as organizers are very happy about it. It seems that the public appreciated it as well.

Unsurprisingly, Ukraine featured prominently at this year’s event, the 29th of its kind, with appearances from Ukrainian folk-metal band Geneza and Ruslan Trochynskyi, vocalist and trombonist from Estonian band Svjata Vatra.

Locally housed war refugees were entitled to attend the festival free of charge; nearly 200 of them did so, while t-shirts and other goodies were on sale, with proceeds going to Ukraine. The volunteers also handcrafted camouflage nets, to be sent to the conflict zone.

Of the four days, Saturday was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most popular, with nearly 10,000 visits, followed by 7,000 on Friday, 5,000 on opening day Thursday, and 3,000 on Sunday.

Attendance levels also spoke of the post-pandemic recovery, organizers added.

Nearly 20 foreign artists performed, including Hempress Sativa (Jamaica), Yamma Ensemble (Israel), Samba Touré (Mali), Gangar (Norway), Ak Dan Gwang Chil (South Korea), Góbé (Hungary) and Breabach ( Sweden), while the more than 40 local acts included Zetod, Puuluup and Mari Jürjens.

Those showing symptoms of festival withdrawal will be able to return to Viljandi on August 18, when Lalala Napoli (Italy) perform alongside Estonian band Dagö, at the city’s Pärimusmuusika Ait, while on August 27, Tallinn hosts Ukrainian band world famous Ukrainian. Dakha Brakha from Ukraine, this time at the Alexela concert hall.

Next year’s event, the 30 since the tradition began, will run from July 27-30, 2023.

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