From 18 September until 26 September, the seventh Ethnic Culture Days, featuring workshops, exhibitions, concerts and overviews of the culture and customs of different nationalities take place in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.
The event, organised by various NGOs and the Tallinn city government, starts with a traditional ethno-fair at the Tallinn Town Hall Square on 18 September.
In language cafés, the nuances of the nature, origin and development of the Estonian language are revealed. A separate language café is dedicated to the Võro language, during which there is a good opportunity to discuss world affairs with native Võro people. Tallinn Central Library offers classes, reading corners and acquaintance lessons on ethnic cultures to the classes of general education schools.
Throughout the event, there will be a concert programme of classical, folk and pop music concerts. The festival ends on 26 September with a choir concert “We live together – we sing together” at the Russian Cultural Centre.
“Tallinn is home to people of nearly a hundred different nationalities. Therefore, to celebrate the cultural diversity of our hometown, it is good to meet at least once a year and get to know each other’s backgrounds through several musical performances, workshops and a food fair,” Tallinn’s deputy mayor, Vadim Belobrovtsev, said in a statement.
The largest ethnic groups in Tallinn are Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Finns, Jews and Tartars, but in recent years, thousands of people from the European Union states as well as countries across the world have settled in the Estonian capital.
Cover: The Russian Cultural Centre in Tallinn. Photo by the Russian Cultural Centre.
