This weekend, Estonia celebrates its songs and dances in a country-wide festival, centered in Tallinn. It’s an every five year event.
I first went to Estonia in 1998. When I heard that the next year would feature choruses of 25,000 people, I had to go, and I did.
Tonight was the first performance of the dance festival. Here’s an excerpt from the grand finale.
Grand Finale of Dance Celebration in #Tallinn. Let’s dance and sing proudly “Tuljak”! ??
Huge thank you to all almost 10500 dancers, and their teachers, great musicians, super organisers and kind spectators of #Estonia|n Dance Festival @laulutantsupidu.
It was amazing! ?????? https://t.co/SOknaZHO9F pic.twitter.com/XawJ5FxDeK— Lauri Bambus ?? (@LauriBambus) July 5, 2019
The first time I heard “Tuljak,” I knew practically no Estonian, but I could tell that it is one of the happiest songs in the universe.
Tomorrow is the song festival. Here’s the traditional opening song from 2014.
They streamed the 2014 Song Festival on the internet, but I haven’t been able to find it this year.
Open thread
SiubhanDuinne
How wonderful! Thank you, Cheryl; both videos were a treat.
Mike in NC
We visited Tallinn on a Baltic cruise in June 2014. There were five cruise ships in port that day. It must drive the locals nuts to see so many tourists clogging the streets of the Old Town.
MattF
In case the crisis in Venezuela had slipped off the bottom of your ‘worries’ list, here’s a WaPo column explaining why Venezuelan disintegration is a nightmare that threatens the truce in Colombia between the Colombian government and insurgents.
Cheryl Rofer
@Mike in NC: I first was in Tallinn in late January 1998. I walked Old Town through the sleet and dark. It was lovely. I thought that someday there would be bright colors and many tourists, probably from cruise ships. That would be a success for my Estonian friends. But it would not be the same.
Aleta
beautiful to see and hear
Betty
@MattF: So very sad to see all this suffering. I don’t know how it will end. No obvious solution.
Snarkworth, short-fingered Bulgarian
That was lovely, Cheryl. Thank you.
RoonieRoo
I was in Tallinn in 1987. Needless to say, it was quite a different place then.
gkoutnik
Awesome awesome awesome. Roots music. Tens of thousands of people working together for the common good and the common joy. Richly sourced from a shared history and culture, but able to touch anyone. And – it’s a song! A beautiful song. And you can dance if you want.
Thanks so much for the antidote to the embarrassing mess that represented America on the National Mall yesterday.
Steve in the ATL
Is “Tuljak” Estonian for “my lovely horse”?
jl
Thanks. Beautiful music. I caught it in 2004.
Does this make Balloon-Juice America’s premier Estonian song festival blog?
Cheryl Rofer
@jl: I was there too!
The Dangerman
I see Trump blamed the “airport thing” on a faulty teleprompter. Well, perfectly reasonable explanation (NOT!).
Oh, well, coffee be wearing off, but I’m calling BS.
JPL
@The Dangerman: It was fine though because he had memorized the speech.
debbie
@The Dangerman:
He also said that he didn’t need a teleprompter because he’d read and studied the speech. I look forward to eleventy billion more explanations from Trump.
Aleta
@The Dangerman: to cover all his bases he routinely contradicts his own explanations with other explanations
Skyweaver
Lurker here. I had to unlurk to thank you for posting that. Lovely and uplifting, and you’re right. Very very happy!
Litlebritdifrnt
OT- but I just found something out. My Mum and Step Dad bought a studio condo in Gibraltar in the 70s. She intends to leave it to me. Right now she is getting 500 pounds a month rent when I just discovered the average is 700. The sale price is going to be about 150,000 pounds. (Sorry I can’t do a pound symbol on my ancient American Laptop). My advice to her is going to be sell it, bank the proceeds and live off it. (She will have to pay taxes and crap from the proceeds so be it) My question am I right? She is on a pension and I would rather her have the money now than me having it after she is gone. Having said that she tends to spend her money on expensive cruises and stuff. And buying shit she doesn’t need so what should I do?
JPL
@Litlebritdifrnt: If she is able to keep it rented out, it might make more sense to keep it.
Peale
@Litlebritdifrnt: if she wants to use it for cruises and still die broke, more power too her £150 K, to put it in perspective in the US, would be gone in four months in a rehab center or hospice so in the US it makes little sense to hold onto cash assets.
planetjanet
@Litlebritdifrnt: Just my opinion, but a steady income is better than a lump sum payment that she may not use judiciously. Maybe you can help her get a better rent payment.
CatFacts
@Litlebritdifrnt: I’d take a long hard look at taxes, your mom’s possible long-term care needs later in life, your own financial situation, etc. before you do it. That amount of cash all at once sounds like a lot, but a medical emergency or long-term care expenses could drain it in a couple years if your mom’s unlucky. Though I’m coming from a perspective that says not to sell off assets for cash–or refuse an inheritance–unless it’s a “break glass in case of emergency” situation, so YMMV.
Litlebritdifrnt
@JPL: @Peale: @Peale: @Peale: @planetjanet: @planetjanet: Thank you all for your input, I am so grateful.
CatFacts
Actually, Peale above is more right on the long-term care prices than I was in my comment above. From personal experience, I can say that costs for a room in a nursing home plus a private aide can easily run upwards of 10 grand a month (US), even if you live somewhere with relatively low cost of living.
chris
Thanks, Cheryl, those look like fun. I’d be the guy clapping a little behind the beat and definitely not singing but loving the music none the less.
On another note, have a happy fox on the subway.
MattF
@Litlebritdifrnt: Depends a lot on the income vs. expenses balance. It’s often surprisingly narrow— a little over or a little under breaking even can make a big difference. So, the first step is that someone needs to be keeping track. With that information, you can usually figure out the various tradeoffs.
trollhattan
Friend who lives in the Sierra foothills off of I-80 just sent me a pic his son took of a grown-ass mountain lion sitting on a trail near their house. Middle of the day, just as comfortable as you please. Holy fucking shit, did they not read the description of how they’re “shy and rarely seen”?
Msb
Thanks so much. One can hear the most interest8n* music here. I also love Tallinn and would like to return.
John Revolta
@Litlebritdifrnt: I agree with all the above, and would add that if she does sell it, make sure somebody trustworthy handles it. If she’s undercharging for rent she might also get taken in a sale.
Also, the longer she keeps it, the more it’ll eventually be worth (generally speaking).
Rand Careaga
Sorry, but this is the happiest song in the universe.
susanna
Thank you, Cheryl, for a glimpse of another culture’s musical offerings. The music makes me smile, or maybe it’s watching all the attendees celebrating with obvious joy.
We now know what we’ve known all along, that boy-trump can’t read and think at the same time.
Ninedragonspot
Arvo Pärt seems almost obligatory for the rare Estonian music thread.
Cheryl Rofer
@Rand Careaga: Nope. But I’m willing to put it in the top 10 along with Tuljak.
Sandia Blanca
@RoonieRoo: I was there in 1976–so very different then, and yet it was one of the best places we visited that summer in the USSR. And we were treated to folk songs and dances like this one. It’s interesting how many of us have been there, isn’t it? Maybe this is indeed “America’s premier Estonian song festival blog” as jl notes above!
RoonieRoo
@Sandia Blanca: I think it was my favorite location for our trip too. It was the most cultural experience for our whole time in the USSR as well.
Kattails
@Litlebritdifrnt: What is the condition of the condo? Does it need much upkeep? What level of hassle is it to maintain the income and would you be interested in doing so if/when you inherit? When my Dad passed, there was a small business, and a piece of property that had no debt. The buyer of the business did not want the property so we sold it after he got established. So for a while we had rent, then a sale income, and then a couple more years of income on the note we were holding for the business until he could obtain bank funding. It was a bit of work for me as the executor but it was rather nice to have that monthly income. The property sale money brought in about what you’re talking about, less because US $$, split 3 ways, and really did not last long. Felt like a lot at the time and helped when the economy tanked.
So I’m kind of in line with CatFacts.
Kattails
And to Cheryl, a treat, thank you. I never would have known about it. The chorus must have been earth-shaking.
Indrek
It’s live right now at etv.ee
I am watching in NJ:)