Harri Ausmaa told Vikerraadio that heading up Opinion Festival is a natural continuation of his previous work. His connection with the festival began while he was managing Paide Theater at a time it became an important partner for the festival. Ausmaa also recalled that Paide Theater itself was born from a discussion held at Opinion Festival.

"Paide Theater started with a discussion at Opinion Festival where the question was asked whether Paide needed its own city theater, and that is where it all began to unfold," he said.

The new director is drawn to the festival by the opportunity to shape Estonia's culture of discussion and public debate. "Culture is not just a way to fill time or provide entertainment. Culture, including the culture of opinions and discussions, influences how people understand each other, how communities function and what kind of society we live in," he emphasized.

According to Ausmaa, substantive dialogue has become less common in Estonian society in recent years. Rapid changes and uncertainty have led people to hold more firmly to their positions, and instead of discussions, monologues often dominate.

"This is where the role, uniqueness and importance of Opinion Festival come to the fore. It is precisely at times like these that we need to preserve a culture of discussion and create positive visions for the future. That is what I want to achieve with Opinion Festival."

One of the major changes Ausmaa wants to introduce is making Opinion Festival more active throughout the rest of the year as well. This would include new discussion formats, training sessions, educational materials and engaging different target groups.

"Although the most visible expression of the festival as an organization is the two-day event held in August, a culture of discussion must be cultivated throughout the year," he said.

He added that the public often fails to notice that discussions held at the festival later lead to sector-specific development plans and other practical initiatives. To make this impact more visible, the festival is developing a participation and feedback model to help assess the impact of discussions.

The new director also considers greater involvement of young people an important area for development. This requires creating discussion formats together with young people and bringing topics to the festival that genuinely resonate with them.

In recent years, Opinion Festival attendance has remained around 10,000 people. Ausmaa does not see much potential for the festival to grow significantly in terms of visitor numbers, as Paide's physical space naturally limits the number of attendees. Instead, he wants to focus on quality, experiment with new discussion formats, use technological solutions and bring the festival to new locations in Paide.

"What motivates me is that Opinion Festival is this one trusted space where people dare to meet. [A place] where we invite people to come together and provide a platform even when they do not think alike, but where it is possible to listen. The format and method of discussion can be chosen based on what kind of conversation a particular question requires, rather than according to how things have always been done," he said.

This year, Opinion Festival will be held August 7–8, with over 200 discussions and workshops, including some in English.

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