Culture.ee weekly recommendations: 23–29 July, 2018

Lasnamäe is very diverse, with people from many different cultures living here. The Pie Festival is a great opportunity to introduce the traditional cuisine of different cultures. This is a great day when you can sell pies made in your home kitchen. You can also sell, exchange and give away clothes and things you don’t need anymore – there will be a flea market.

A story takes place under the glaring sun and looks at how things may seem from the viewpoint of a child and observes the fears of childhood. At the same time, the movies is about childhood cruelty, vampires,  and atomic bomb tests. Philip Ridley’s debut film gives a unique view through the eyes of a child. The film premiered in 1990 at the Cannes Film Festival but gathers a grateful audience also today. The most famous story about the movie is the following: a versatile director Philip Ridley personally spray-painted the wheatfields to gain a brighter shade of yellow for the film.

To the great satisfaction of Tartu citizens, a popular tradition of the first quarter of the 20th century has been revived – a free summer concert of mainly classical music. This year’s open-air concert is conducted by Paul Mägi, the music director and chief conductor of theatre Vanemuine. The concert will take place in a natural amphitheater in the heart of the city – the Kassitoome Valley of Toomemägi.

The jubilee of the festival is coming. There will be an antiquity fair, a parade and a battle re-enactment, but also many other interesting things. There will be different activities for both adults and children.

NEW THIS YEAR: Sweet Spot Festival, taking place for the very first time at Tallinn Creative Hub’s Park on the 27th and 28th of July, offers you an opportunity to take yourself on a two-day cultural journey filled with quality music and provides the nicest city festival experience. The line-up is quite impressive and the venue is great, so you might want to check it out!

French sculptor Porte Renaud invites you to witness the making and unmaking of a sculpture on the Town Hall Square, right in front of the Tartu Art Museum. The event is part of the artists’ creative series titled Cross, in which the sculptor forms different matters, to create a unique artwork. The artists’ webpage helps to understand the concept: http://www.porterenaud.com/.

The festival was founded in 2006 when renowned musicians from different countries decided that they would like to arrange their annual meetings on the island. During these years, more than 50 concerts have taken place, with musicians from 17 different countries. The visitors of the festival include music lovers from both Estonia and other countries. Each year, the festival will also feature new Estonian music, and several times there have been master classes for young musicians.

Europa Cantat, initiated by the European Choral Association, is one of the central meeting points of the choral world, which has been organized since 1961. The festival is held every three years and the last one was in Pécs 2015. This unique festival brings together more than 4000 singers, conductors, composers and choral managers from Europe and beyond for 10 days of singing delight.The festival is not only for choir singers. All possible vocal genres are represented: experimental, musicals and film music, oratorios, folk music, romantic and modern music, early music, jazz, gospel, etc.

OLD BUT GOLD! This festival has been around for ages, but it is only gets better with time. Wonderful musicians from all our neighboring countries are invited to the festival, there are also guests from Prince Edward Island, China, Austria, the United States and many other countries. Each festival visitor gets at least one new skill in addition to the concert experience, be it a song, an instrumental piece, a craft, a good idea or experience. You can pick up the most exciting pieces from the diverse programme of workshops and meet the lively tradition.