The organizers of the 2025 Song and Dance Festival set a strict limit on the number of tickets that can be sold for this year's event, meaning they would sell slightly fewer than in 2019. For Sunday's final concert, which is especially popular, 58,000 tickets have been sold this year, compared to around 62,000 in 2019.

In 2019, the Song Festival Grounds were overcrowded during the final concert on the Sunday leading the organizers had to close the gates for the first time for security reasons.

"Before that Song Festival, we did not have a situation like this and had not set any limits on the number of participants," said Sten Weidebaum, head of communications at the Song and Dance Festival.

A secondary market has also emerged in which tickets for the major concert and dance festivals are available are being re-sold at much higher prices than face value and via auctions where they go to the highest bidder.

A ticket for the general admissions area for Sunday's final concert is currently on sale on social media for €100 for instance, even though the original price was just €17.

Weidebaum said that of course the Song Festival team are aware that tickets are being re-sold. "After all, it's visible in the public online environment," he said.

"This is the first time we have been in such a tight ticketing situation. In 2019, tickets for the major concert sold out on the day of the concert, not a month before like on they have now. We will take stock of the experience after the end of the festival, analyze it and look for solutions for the next festival," said Weidebaum.

Lessons learned from 2019

"In 2019, the grounds were full and it became difficult for the medical staff to do their job. The area became very narrow and so now we have increased the size of the performers' area. The audience area has been shifted towards the slope to give more space for the singers," Weidebaum explained.

Another new initiative on this occasion is that the total number of tickets available was specifically outlined from the off.

"In previous Song Festivals – in the 156-year history of the festival – there was a feeling that you could always get tickets for the Song Festival, because not many tickets were bought in advance. Now that trend has changed," said Weidebaum.

"This years' experience, whereby we ran out of tickets for the Song Festival Grand Concert a month before the Song Festival, and the Dance Festival tickets sold out in 24 hours, is a new situation that we will have to analyze after the festival," he added.

The organizer put the high number of ticket sales down to how hotly anticipated the Song and Dance Festival has become. "Obviously, in such turbulent times, we all need this Song and Dance Festival," Weidebaum said.

Tickets are still available for the opening concert. Of the 48,000 available, more than 30,000 tickets have been sold so far.

On the Friday, a few hundred tickets will officially go on sale for the opening and main concerts, as well as for the main rehearsal and the first and third performances of the Dance Festival. These are the last tickets available from earlier bookings.

Song Festival likely to remain alcohol-free event

The Song Festival has been an alcohol-free event since 2019, with no alcohol sold on the grounds, with the same also being the case this time round.

"This is an old decision. In 2014, there was a meaningful discussion and a decision was made that alcohol would not be sold in the Song and Dance Festival areas. On this occasion, we didn't even discuss it because the question never arose. It seems to be a long-standing decision," said Weidebaum.

At the entrances, both visitors and performers will be subject to security checks with the aim of preventing people from bringing forbidden items into the festival area, Weidebaum said.

However, there is no mention of alcohol on the list of banned items, which does include objects such as glassware, cutlery, umbrellas and pets.

Long lines to use the toilets have also been a problem at recent events with large crowds. According to Weidebaum however, this time there will be 280 toilets in the Song Festival Grounds this time round, an increase of 50 from 2019.

"Queues are unavoidable in a situation where around 100,000 people have gathered at the Song Festival Grounds. There is no way to avoid it," said Weidebaum.

"We pay a lot of attention to security at the Song and Dance Festival and that is a very complex job. It's not just about the visible and circulating security guards, who are of course involved on the grounds and in the procession, but we also work very closely with the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) and the Rescue Board. We have our own separate medical service. This ensures a very multilayered security network so that the festival can be enjoyed by everyone," said Weidebaum.

The Song and Dance Festival's organizational team has played out potential scenarios moments when it comes to notifying people of weather-related challenges. Nevertheless Weidebaum still advised people to be very vigilant themselves when monitoring the weather.

"Definitely, the primary safety and preparatory measures for the weather conditions have to start with each participant and visitor themselves. This means following both the organizers' announcements and the weather forecasts. In case the weather changes and it gets hot and summery, it is really important to bring a hat and stay in the shade. Water will be available on the grounds from taps and Tallinna Vesi fountains. If it's cold and rainy, you ought to have a hat and some wellies with you," said Weidebaum.

In 2017, the weather was so bad that one performance during the Youth Song and Dance Festival had to be cancelled.

"Every specific situation is always assessed on the spot and is also multilayered. Decisions are not only taken by the organizers, but also by the operational staff, with both the PPA and the medical services to help assess the situation and take decisions," explained Weidebaum.

The XXVIII Song and XXI Dance Festival "Iseoma" takes place in Tallinn from July 3 to 6.

Heli Jürgenson will be the artistic director of the Song Festival, Helena-Mariana Reimann will be the chief performer of the Dance Festival and Helin Pihlap will be the general director of the Folk Music Festival.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook, Bluesky and X and never miss an update!