Margus Toomla, a member of the management board of the Estonian Song and Dance Celebration Foundation, said the 2028 celebration will be exceptional, as it will bring together the traditions of the Youth Song and Dance Celebration and the general Song and Dance Celebration for the first time in history. This time, the celebration will last a total of two weeks, from June 30 to July 9. "The first week of the celebration will focus on the Dance Celebration and Folk Music Celebration, while the second will be devoted to the procession and Song Celebration."

Although the program is extensive and the celebration will be considerably longer than usual, Toomla is confident everything will run smoothly and that the wide-ranging program will give more people an opportunity to attend one of the Dance Celebration performances or Song Celebration concerts. He said the Folk Music Celebration's more spacious venue at the Estonian Open Air Museum will offer plenty of opportunities to experience the celebration in an authentic setting.

The major celebration's theme "Olemise viis" ("Way of Being" or "Tune of Being") ties the Song, Dance and Folk Music celebrations together into a conceptual whole. Song Celebration artistic director Riivo Jõgi said the phrase "Olemise viis" is appealingly ambiguous, allowing considerable freedom both artistically and philosophically. "Since the Youth and general Song Celebrations will be held together this time and the celebration will last three days, an axis of past, present and future emerged quite naturally."

He explained that the first day will look back in time, with participants jointly performing music that has resonated with people in Estonia over different decades. "This will be a special concert because the audience will be able to sing along with the choir for a large part of it. There has been communal singing at the Song Celebration before, but this time an entire concert has been built around it. The second day will belong to adult singers, while children and young people will take the stage under the Song Festival Grounds' arch on the third day."

"'Olemise viis' will bring the meanings of being Estonian and coming together to the Song Festival Grounds through our shared history. I hope these three days will genuinely form a single whole and that people will leave the celebration thinking about where we come from, what unites us here in Estonia and what we want to carry forward into the future," Jõgi said.

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