Tartu Folk 2024

About the event

14.-17. november 2024

Tartu Folk is a folklore festival dedicated to creating bonds between different Tartu and European folklore groups and sharing local culture with the audience. Tartu Folk will host concerts, dance nights and music workshops.

In 2024, during which Tartu is the European Capital of Culture, the folklore community BUL Bodø from Norway will also attend the festival from the second European Capital of Culture, Bodø. With this festival, we will form a bond between the two Capitals of Culture. The main performers will also include a group inspired by Karjala folklore, Motora from Finland; the Baltics will be represented by the Latvian folklore group Tarkšķi and the Sörve Sörmitsejad from Estonia will be introducing the traditions and folklore of Estonian islands. Read more about the main performers here.

The festival will begin on 14. November with an opening concert, where ensembles representing different nationalities will gather to celebrate the Year of Diversity. On the 15th of November, our guest performers will hold concerts in various Tartu cultural and educational institutions. On the main day of the festival, the 16th of November, there will be a grand folklore evening at the Luunja Culture and Leisure Centre, where not only will the main performers take the stage, but so will the best of Tartu’s traditional dance and music ensembles. A grand concert will be held, followed by an evening of Norwegian, Finnish, Latvian and Estonian dances. The evening will end with an Ethnodisco. The festival’s final concert will be broadcast live from the Estonian National Museum, featuring videos introducing the guest performers’ homelands and culture. The concert will be led by Kaarel Pogga (Theatre Vanemuine) and Tuule Pihlap (Folklore Club Maatasa).

Tartu Folk is an event part of the European Capital of Europe Tartu 2024 side programme.

The festival Tartu Folk takes place in November, a time for connecting with souls and spirits. This time of spirits fosters a special connection between our modern life and our ancestors’ lives by singing their songs, dancing their dances and playing their tunes. This warmth and light will brighten up the darkest time of the year. The festival’s main symbols are fire, our youth and our ancestors.

Idea and design: Sander Lillo, Helin Pihlap; Photo (Tartu Folk 2016): Mirjam Koor