Estonia celebrated the start of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union with nearly 15,000 people gathering for a concert on Freedom Square

Estonia took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July. Last Thursday 29 June, Tallinn Music Week, in collaboration with an extended creative team, organized a free concert on Tallinn’s Freedom Square to mark the start of the presidency, attracting nearly 15,000 people.

Photos by Patrik Tamm

The line-up of the opening concert featured popular Estonian artists like Kukerpillid, NOËP, and Winny Puhh. The square, featuring wood installations that formed a ’digital thicket’, also included cafés and street food stalls, as well as a playground entitled the Children’s Republic.

The ’digital thicket’ installation that encompassed the stages and the square told Estonia’s Presidency story ’Unity through balance’. Made of 7 solid cubic metres of wood and 700 identical wooden elements, it was created by Sille Pihlak and Siim Tuksam from the PART architectural practice, the most recent winners of the Estonian Young Architect of the Year Award. Pihlak and Tuksam have also created the timber frame city space bandstands and smart garbage sorting containers for the last two editions of Tallinn Music Week festival. The ’digital thicket’ will find a new home in the Tallinn Botanical Garden as trellises for the climbing plants there.

Jean-Claude Juncker, Jüri Ratas and Donald Tusk

 

The audience was greeted by Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, and Jüri Ratas, the Prime Minister of Estonia.
“The eyes of Europe are on us and once again we are greater than our size would suggest. We must use this time wisely and boldly, we must speak ourselves but, above all, know how to listen to others. The more familiar Europe is with our way of thinking, the greater Estonia is. The better we understand others, the more united Europe is,” said Prime Minister Ratas.

Donald Tusk noted that coming from Poland, he can understand the importance of language in preserving cultural identity and quoted, in Estonian, the poem “We keep together like this” by Paul-Eerik Rummo from 1964.

On Friday 30 June, Jüri Ratas and Jean-Claude Juncker gave a joint press conference at the Tallinn Creative Hub (Kultuurikatel) where Juncker praised the opening concert, highlighting the enthusiasm of and the warm welcome given by the people of Estonia.

The start of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU was also celebrated at the Tallinn Creative Hub (Kultuurikatel) on Thursday with a formal reception and gala concert for select guests. Both events were broadcast live by the Estonian Television (ETV).

Winny Puhh

 

The opening concert of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union concert featured artists like the Estonian Radio Children’s Choir conducted by Kaie Tanner and Kadri Hunt, the Estonian Cello Ensemble, Estonian Voices, Frankie Animal, Genka, Kadri Voorand, Kukerpillid, Mari Jürjens, Miljardid, NOËP, Vaiko Eplik, Winny Puhh, and a joint choir with conductor Veronika Portsmuth, and dancers with choreographer Arolin Raudva. The performances were blended into a continuous whole by composer and DJ Sander Mölder.
The concert was organised by Tallinn Music Week and Kingent Management.

Visual and lighting design, stage and area design: Emer Värk, Rene Jõhve (Cuu Club), PART architectural practice
Director of sound: Kaspar Brandt (RGB)
Production and choreography: Arolin Raudva
Visual identity: Martin Veisman, Ruum 414
Food area: Tallinn Street Food Festival, KrõbeRäim, MTÜ Mondo Süüria köök, Bite My Bagel, Paulig Coffee Truck, Kolm Nuudlit, BBQ Truck (LV), Nohik Kohvibuss, Street Food Team, Homeart interior design shop
Playground and workshops: the Children’s Republic tour, the Year of Children’s and Youth Culture 2017
Main organiser: Estonian Government Office
Additional information: eu2017.ee

News

  1. Estonia celebrated the start of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union with nearly 15,000 people gathering for a concert on Freedom Square

  2. Tallinn Music Week’s Telliskivi Creative City Award winners are Mart Avi, Erki Pärnoja and NOËP

  3. Tallinn Music Week attracted almost 37 000 visitors

  4. John Robb: “In all great art, there are no borders”

  5. Tallinn Music Week with Telia and Spotify announce voting for your favourite artist

  6. Erkki-Sven Tüür presents his new album at Tallinn Music Week

  7. President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid opened the Tallinn Music Week conference Creative Impact

  8. Artist Marko Mäetamm will open a new solo exhibition during Tallinn Music Week

  9. Tallinn Music Week (TMW) conference Creative Impact full programme now published

  10. The public discussion series TMW Talks encompasses issues from urban development to cosmic beauty

  11. Trad.Attack! and Onuka set to hold a joint concert at Russian Cultural Centre during Tallinn Music Week

  12. Tallinn Music Week will light up new paths in the city and give new lease of life to old garages

  13. Nordea and “Five Stars” present a carefully selected Tallinn Music Week “best of” programme

  14. Tallinn Music Week presents a documentary film programme in Sõprus cinema focusing on music, politics and consequences of consumerism

  15. TMW conference Creative Impact to put spotlight on big European questions and innovation across industries

  16. Tallinn Music Week presents more than 100 free concerts in locations from charity shop to a hotel suite

  17. Top chef Peeter Pihel cooks with “best before” ingredients at Tallinn Music Week

  18. Tallinn Music Week will fill the historic railway station Balti Jaam with sounds of the future

  19. Finnish music company Fullsteam’s 15th birthday party to be celebrated at Tallinn Music Week

  20. Kristjan Järvi presents “Radio Head Rewritten“ at Tallinn Music Week opening concert

  21. Tallinn Music Week announced new conference speakers from the rulers of London nightlife to tech revolutionaries

  22. Tallinn Music Week and the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center introduce local and international arts and the daily lives of artists

  23. Tallinn Music Week presents authentic small island tastes and the best cuisines in town

  24. Tallinn Music Week released this year’s music programme

  25. President Kersti Kaljulaid to open this year’s Tallinn Music Week conference

  26. Tallinn Music Week launches the new festival season with a new design and website

  27. Tommy Cash and NOËP at Eurosonic this week

  28. Tallinn Music Week is offering priority passes for the first time

  29. Finnish and Estonian music industries join forces to increase the export capabilities in Japan

  30. Tallinn Music Week unveils the first round of conference topics and speakers

  31. Tartu Music Week and sTARTUp Day transform the university town into music and tech festival

  32. Estonia kicked off the international tech conference Slush with Estonian president inviting everyone to become an e-resident

  33. Lithuanian psychedelic rockers Garbanotas Bosistas are the favourite of Tallinn Music Week audience

  34. Tallinn Music Week received an all time record number of artist applications from nearly 60 countries

  35. Chamber Choir Sireen to release a debut album ’Terra Incognita’ with a special performance on 18th September

  36. TMW 2017 artist application round is open, delegates passes on sale at an “early bird” rate

  37. NOЁP to perform at Finnish FLOW Festival this Saturday

  38. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves will hold a record signing session in TMW summer house at Positivus Festival on Sunday 17 July

  39. Maria Faust has been awarded with the prestigious Danish culture prize

  40. TMW 2016 artist prize Telliskivi Creative City Award goes to I Wear* Experiment

  41. President Ilves in the opening address at the TMW conference and CFCForum: terrorism and populism impact on all of us