Songfest Organizers Seek New Ideas for Torch-Carrying Event

Organizers are holding a contest to find fresh ideas for the traditional torch-carrying ceremony of the Song and Dance Festival, to be held in 2014.

The torch ceremony marks the traditional start of each Song and Dance Festival with the lighting of flame on a tower next to the stage of Tallinn's Song Festival Grounds. Before the lighting ceremony, the torch begins an 18-day journey beginning in Tartu, traveling around various parts of the country and arriving in Tallinn. It is for this journey that the contest organizers are seeking new ideas. For example, in 2009, the torch followed the path of the historical Hanseatic water routes.

The theme of next year's celebration is “Touched by Time. The Time to Touch.” The deadline for contest entries is June 11.

"Even the most unexpected ideas and solutions are welcome because the goal of the contest is not to find a single project, but to involve as many fellow thinkers as possible in creating a journey for the torch," Sten Weidebaum, head of the festival's foundation, said in a press release.

Arguably the most famous symbol of Estonia, the Song and Dance Festival is held every five years, sometimes boasting 30,000 singers on stage and an audience of 100,000. The event, first held in 1869, played an important role in Estonia's national awakening in the 19th century and, in the 1980s, in the events leading to independence from the Soviet Union known as the Singing Revolution.

More information about the contest and celebration can be found at the festival's website.

Source: ERR