The long-awaited Song Festival began at 2 p.m. and lasted nearly seven hours. Heavy rain showers did not deter the audience. The turnout was huge – Estonia has a population of 1.3 million – and tickets sold out in advance.

The concert featured 40 diverse works, both classics and new compositions.

ERR spoke to one couple, Indrek and Triin, who brought their children to the concert. They said their goal was to stay until the very end, and they had prepared accordingly.

"Blueberries are absolutely essential. And candy. And this morning we went and equipped ourselves with rubber boots, so our feet are warm and our bellies are full of snacks," Indrek said.

He said the most heartfelt moments of the opening concert were the song performed during the lighting of the festival flame and the Estonian national anthem. The family was especially looking forward to the boys' choir performance during the main concert.

"'Ranitsakandja' is a big favorite, and 'Leib jahtub' is our — us parents' — absolute favorite," said Indrek.

ERR also spoke to several of the conductors who performed on Sunday.

Conductor Mariliis Kreintaal presented the Võro-language "Ranitsakandja", set to lyrics by Contra and choreographed by Märt Agu, to the audience. It was very popular, receiving requests for an encore. 

"It was insanely cool, simply amazing. My body is full of dopamine, adrenaline, and oxytocin. Now my pulse is slowly recovering. But it's just so cool. And every singing boy is just such a cool boy," Kreintaal said.

"It's wonderful to feel that emotion coming back from both under the Song Arch and from the audience. It's so important—you're not alone. You are the energy coming back from the boys. It's so honest and so genuine," she added.

Kuldar Schüts conducted both at the opening concert and again on Sunday.

"Today held even greater meaning because the boys' choir is my life and my passion, I love conducting it," said Schüts.

He hopes that people actually listen to the music at the Song Festival.

"It's not just a gathering, it's the result of years of work. The singers have practiced and now want to present this to all these people. I hope the audience will truly listen and enjoy what we've prepared," the conductor said.

Conductor and choral composer Karin Tuul participated for the second time as a composer. This time, her piece "Vaata ja sa näed" was performed by women's choirs.

"An Estonian woman is a powerful woman, and when there are many of them together, the feeling is clearly overwhelming. I watch it and experience it all with immense gratitude and a profound sense of joy," said Tuul.

Valter Soosalu, who conducted a piece he had written himself, first joked about the weather.

"At least it's not raining, right? If you look around here at the grounds, it's the perfect symbol of what the Song Festival is — it might rain, but we're not going anywhere. We're here," said Soosalu.

"And when it comes to the Song Festival as a musical event, it's clear that the quality of choirs improves every time. The amount of work that has gone into this is incredible. Some pieces in the program, like Veljo Tormis' 'Laulja,' are works we couldn't have even dreamed of hearing at a Song Festival just a short time ago. And along those lines, we already have some bold ideas in the works," he added.

Final figures

On Tuesday, the Song and Dance Celebration Foundation said more than 100,000 people attended the two concerts on Saturday and Sunday.

"In total, there were 32,022 song festival participants, and the opening and main concerts drew a combined audience of 79,000 people," a press release said.

Heli Jürgenson, artistic director of the song festival, highlighted the strong sense of unity and energy that radiated from the stage over the two days.

"It was mystically powerful and seemed to keep the bad weather away from our music and singing," she said.

Almost 45,000 participants took part in the Song and Dance Celebration procession.

The Dance Festival performances were attended by nearly 44,000 people and 10,938 dancers took part.

The Folk Music Festival featured 765 musicians.

The next Song and Dance Festival will take place in 2028.

This article was updated to add the final attendance figures and a comment from Heli Jürgenson.

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