In total, participants from 990 choirs and bands gathered under the Song Arch at the Song Festival Grounds in Tallinn for the performance.

Among them are 6,244 singers from preschool choirs, 2,408 from boys' and mixed boys' choirs, 5,295 from children's choirs, 3,970 from women's choirs, 1,339 from men's choirs, and 10,792 from mixed choirs.

In addition, a wind orchestra with 1,548 players and a symphony orchestra with 915 players will perform. The groups were brought to the festival by 788 conductors.

The artistic director of the Song Celebration is Heli Jürgenson, and the program features classics from the choral music repertoire as well as new compositions and songs in different Estonian dialects.

The Song Festival – known as Laulupidu in Estonian – is not just one of the largest choral events in the world. It's a more than 150-year-old Estonian tradition born out of an aspiration to attain national self-determination after centuries of being ruled over by foreign powers.

"It is certainly a major concert with high-quality musical value," said Jürgenson. "But in its own way, it is like a religious service of our people, where we affirm our faith in being Estonians."

This year's theme is "Iseoma," meaning "Kinship." It focuses on bringing together the Estonian diaspora and regional groups.

"We sing about family, home, love, Estonia, nature, being human, the power of song," Jürgenson said. This year's Song Festival will put a special focus on the richness of our language — dialects."

Read more about the history of the Song Festival here.

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