XXXI Viljandi Folk Music Festival Kicked off Today

For four days, the biggest festival at the end of July covers nine hectares of land, nine stages and a programme of nearly five hundred performers on stages and in workshops. There will be 70 concerts in the main programme on the festival grounds and in Viljandi Baptist Church, and another 70 in the innovative Old Town area on the Green Stage and in the Friends' Courtyard.

The organisers of the festival recommend that you arrive in Viljandi by public transport if possible or leave your car in the car parks in town and walk or cycle. During the festival, three extra trains will run in the Tallinn-Viljandi and Viljandi-Tallinn directions, the departures of which can be found on the Elron website.

This year, the festival covers Vabaduse Square, the Song Festival Grounds, Tasuja Puiestee, the Castle Hills, the streets of Kauba, Pikk, Munga, Sepa, Lossi, and Väike-Turu, Johan Laidoner Square, the strip of Lutsu Street next to the square, and various car parks along Kauba Street, Kiriku Street, Reinu tee, and Hariduse Street. Traffic restrictions related to the festival can also be found on the Waze app via the Smart Road app. Information on parking facilities in the city is listed on the homepage of the festival.

Viljandi Folk Music Festival invites the folk music lovers to reuse dishes and drinking cups. For this purpose, visitors are welcome to bring their own dishes (except glasses) of solid materials, which can be washed at the dishwashing point. Those who do not have their own dishes can get deposit dishes and drinking cups for a deposit and a service fee in the festival area. The deposit dishes can be cleaned at the dishwashing point and put in a bag after eating to wait for the next meal or drink. On your way home from the festival, you can return the dishes to the deposit return point of Eesti Pandipakend for a refund, but the service fee of €1 per dish will be retained by the festival to cover costs. You cannot bring your own food and drinks to the festival area, but you can fill your own drinking vessel with clean tap water free of charge.

To ensure a pleasant festival experience for all, you are kindly requested to leave your umbrellas at home and use raincoats instead of umbrellas, which you can bring with you or purchase from the festival shop. Animals must also be left at home, but guide dogs, diabetic alert dogs, assistance dogs, and service dogs are nevertheless welcome.

All music enthusiasts are welcome to the Viljandi Folk Music Festival, and anyone accompanying a person with a severe disability gets free entry to the festival. Access to most of the venues is guaranteed, but some places may be difficult to reach without assistance.

The festival kicks off on Thursday with a procession from near the bus station at 12:30 and the opening concert at Kaevumägi at 13. The Thursday programme already brings half of the foreign artists to the stage, and Estonia's best-known performers can be seen in concert, for example, Puuluup. Although access to Viljandi Folk Music Festival is only granted by different types of passes, individual tickets are available for the Jaak Johanson Stage concerts. These author’s song concerts will take place on Friday and Saturday at Viljandi Baptist Church. The programme on the last day of the festival will also keep the excitement going until the very end, with Zetod and special projects Ando and Friends 55 and Sing My (Folk) Song on the stage.

The Green Stage, which mainly features younger performers and bands, has moved this year to an innovative area of the Old Town with food and a nice atmosphere, located in Laidoner Square. The Old Town area is located on Pikk Street, from Villa Maria to the Kondas Centre, and on Lossi Street to Laidoner Square. From Lossi Street you can also access the Village Musicians' Stage, which this year will be called the Friends' Courtyard, and which was opened last year under the name of the Beer Yard. Admission to the Old Town area is free.

Viljandi Folk Music Festival is—like its visitors—caring, joyful, and youthful, attracting around 25 000 music lovers every year.