Although Estonia's second-largest city is missing a thick layer of snow, dancers still made the most of the cold December weather.

"I chose dances that are more interesting, ones that perhaps not every dancer knows, and that would be exciting and new for them to learn," artistic director Meelika Karna told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

"Today's dance day is a bit different: whereas before we have had all kinds of Estonian folk dances, this time we are traveling across Europe. We have got dances from Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium – a Flemish dance, for example— but there are also some Estonian dances. The Estonian ones are rather special too; we have two Pakri dances and two from Kihnu."

Interest in folk dancing has been growing year by year and this time the event was held in two parts. Younger dancers performed at 11 a.m., and older ones started from 1 p.m.

Aira Aleksejeva, who has been involved in folk dancing for 30 years, said this year's dances took some time to learn, but when dancing together with hundreds of others, the steps came together nicely.

"In our group, we had practiced who starts which dance so we wouldn't get confused about whether to go right or left. In that regard, things went well, I think even better than last year. It is like a milestone that splits the year in two, first comes the Winter Folk Dance Day, then the summer performances. There is always something to train for," said Aleksejeva.

There were also some newcomers to the annual event.

"My dad is a big fan of folk dancing, and in the autumn I chose an elective course at school that lets me earn credits by attending practice sessions. I thought this would finally be the way for me to get into folk dancing. The dances were all a bit challenging for me since I hadn't done folk dance before. The ones that involved waltzing were a little more difficult; the ones where I could just twirl around were a bit easier," said dancer Emma Riin Paju.

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