Opening ceremonies of the 27th Estonian Song Festival were held on a beautiful July evening in Tallinn. Estonia’s first Song Festival was held in Tartu in 1869. It was organized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of Estonian serfdom under the Russian czar. Since then, the singing of patriotic songs has been at the heart of Estonia’s national identity leading to its first independence in 1918, and then its second in 1991. The Song Festival is scheduled, more or less, on a five year cycle with each event bigger and better than the last. The 2019 celebration marked the Festival’s 150th anniversary making it particularly special.

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