Main Programme

Director Maili Metssalu, dramatist Mari Tammar
In cooperation with University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy

Tradition runs through our lives like a river that begins from somewhere very far, from the very first people in the past, and flows roaring through time and space. It meets all our forefathers and great-grandmothers on its way, until it reaches this very moment. Invisible to the eye, it then moves on, in the hope to meet all our future great-grandchildren.

And in this flow of time there have been people and societies, who have managed to grasp that fleeting moment when the tradition reaches us and shares its treasures with us. They have involved others and shared the fortune with everyone smart enough to accept it and try it out themselves. In everyday life and during festivities!

In 2023, the Viljandi Folk Music Festival celebrates its 30th birthday and focuses on the party itself! Viljandi Folk has always been a festival that opens the doors between the ages, guides you to the past and brings pieces of the past into the present day.

At the opening ceremony, we will build a time bridge to the people from whom we have learned and thank our community, with whom we can happily enjoy that oral lore. Let’s party!

NB! August Pulst himself has promised to drop by too!

A round-number anniversary is certainly a great thing and most of us like to celebrate it on a bigger scale or more boldly than usual. Viljandi Folk Music Festival promises to do both for its 30th birthday and the best way to do it is with a big gala concert Folk 30! During the two-hour concert we will turn to archival footage to look back at many artists, who have added colour to the festival’s vivid history, and enjoy live performances from these very artists, to see if they have become more mature or bolder over the years.

Soloists and bands taking the stage: Alle-aa, Arno Tamm and his accompanying ensemble, Curly Strings, Duo Ruut, ETHNO ESTONIA 2023, Irish-Estonian Song Power (Estonia/Ireland), Kärt and Ants Johanson, Lõõm, Lõõtsanøøbid, Lõõtsavägilased, Mari Kalkun, Meelika Hainsoo, Rute and Ruslan Trochynskyi, Silver Sepp, Tbilisi (Georgia), Trad.Attack!, Untsakad, Zetod.

Artist who will play at the Thursday's DanceHouse:

00.00 - Duo Tuus
01.00 - Young talharpa players from Vormsi
02.00 - Folgilotoristid
03.00 - Kuuratsanikud

Artist who will play at the Friday's DanceHouse:

00.00 - Tallinn Dance House musicians
01.00 - Kirbla Trio
02.00 - Norwegian dances - Mattias Thedens and Asmund Arnesen Farstad
03.00 - Alamakstud Härrad

Artist who will play at the Saturday's DanceHouse:

00.00 - Ansambel Wisla
01.00 - Martin Arak
02.00 - MandoTrio
03.00 - ESTLAGER

On Thursday, July 27 at Green Stage*:

15.00 Youngster's folk ensemble Uurikad
15.30 trad.kvintessents
16.30 Tammdadi
17.00 SaJaKa
17.30 Uus Põld
18.30 Karmoškakamraadid
19.00 Kadri ja Koidu
19.30 Kihnu lapsed
20.00 Youngster's folk ensemble Uurikad
21.00 Alamakstud Härrad
21.30 Samovarid
22.00 Oliver Leppik

*the orgniser has the right to make changes in the programme. 

On Friday, July 28 at Green Stage*:

13.30 Dancing workshop led by Tallinn Dance House Musicians
14.30 KRATT
15.00 Maatasas
15.30 Dancing workshop led by Tammeorgu Mari and girls from Sõrve.
16.30 Folkista
17.00 ETHNO Kids 2023
18.00 Pärnu Spelmanslag
18.30 Vihisev Jalg
19.00 Harry-Karl Lepp
20.00 Lämmi Üü
21.00 A.M. Poogen
22.00 Samovarid

*the organiser has the right to make changes in the programme. 

On Saturday, July 29 at Green Stage*:

13.30 Dancing workshop led by Tallinn Dance House Musicians
14.30 Tammdadi
15.00 Uus Põld
15.30 Dancing workshop led by Mare Mätas and youngster's from Kihnu
16.30 Karmoškakamraadid
17.00 ETHNO Estonia 2023
18.00 Kihnu lapsed
18.30 Lämmi Üü
19.00 Kadri ja Koidu
19.30 Karolin Kõrre
20.00 SaJaKa
20.30 Young talharpa players from Vormsi
21.00 Antsud
21.30 Oliver Leppik

*the organiser has the right to make changes in the programme.

On Sunday, July 30 at Green Stage*:

13.00 TopeltJope
13.30 Dancing workshop led by Tallinn Dance House Musicians
14.30 Triuka
15.00 Lõõm
15.30 Maatasa
16.00 KRATT
17.00 Pärnu Spelmanslag
17.30 Vihisev Jalg
18.00 Rahvamuusika Trio
18.30 Folkista
19.00 Tarmo Noormaa

*the organiser has the right to make changes in the programme.