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AUS In Review

May in Review (2024)

📣 We’re experimenting with a new news format for everything Estonian in Australia! You’ll find a summary of national and local community stories from this past month, as well as events coming up next month. What do you think? We’d love your feedback: contact us.

Have news or thoughts to share? Write to us: news [at] eesti.org.au

Key insights

  • This month, mother’s day was celebrated. Estonian Australians held events in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
  • Eurovision 2024 was won by Switzerland, but Estonia’s Veisson dance won votes in Australia, with folk dance groups and individuals across the country coming together to film the dance in an impressive display of national cross-collaboration.
  • The Brisbane Estonian Society hosted Jaanituli – the epic midsummer party – with a bonfire, sauna and cold plunge, Estonian food and drinks, folk and fire dancing, and of course, lots of games.
  • The Estonian Cultural Foundation of Australia opened funding opportunities for local cultural projects.
  • AESL are collecting donations on behalf of Estonians in Australia, towards an Estonian Diaspora project to create a place of remembrance. Donate before July 31 to become an important part of this commemoration of our refugee forefathers.
  • The Australian Estonian Media Project (AEMP) shared how its month went – collaborations, funding, and veisson dances were on the menu.

National News

See more national news →

May in WA

EstWest revealed the winners of the EstWest Logo competition; congratulations go to Tiina Morton!

EstWest also uncovered a Meie Kodu newspaper clipping from 1966, highlighting the establishment of Eesti Maja (Eesti Tare) in Perth. They seek to re-establish an Eesti Maja and continue to build Estonian heritage in Western Australia.

May in NSW

The Sydney Eesti Selts invites you to join in two free kino! nights this June and July – the final two scheduled this year.

Lachlan Bell is on a mission to restore and revitalise the Estonian niche wall section at Rookwood Cemetery. Donations support the cause, and you are invited to join a working bee on Saturday, 15th June.

May in SA

The Consular Mission to Adelaide will take place on Monday, 10 June 2024.  Book an appointment to apply for a new or renewal of an Estonian citizen’s Passport/ID-card.

May in VIC

On Sunday the 5th of May, the Melbourne Estonians celebrated Mother’s Day at Estonian House. Children performed Folk Dancing, and there were lots of games and activities for all, including card-making, baking, crafting wreaths, and some impromptu piano.

Family Stories

Homage For My Estonian Father & Grandmother – Rory’s Story

This story was collected as part of a campaign in support of the Mass Flight Memorial. If you have a story to share about your family’s mass flight experience, please write to us at news@eesti.org.au By Rory Truupold My father was an Estonian refugee from the Second World War—and a mountain climber. I never understood the more profound implications of who he was and what he did when I was growing up, but in the last years of his life when …
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A Sea of Fire: Fleeing Estonia in 1944 – Saima’s Story

AESL is inviting everybody to collect and share stories related to the current donations drive to build a Memorial in Parnu for Estonians who had to escape and leave our ancestors homeland. In the Mass Flight of 1944, about 30,000 escaped to Sweden and about 33,000 to Germany, as states Estonian War Museum. The Eesti Archive in Australia (EAA, under AESL) shares that about 6,000 Estonians ended up in Australia. EAA‘s digital exhibition raises the question – do you know …
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Why I donated towards the Mass Flight Memorial – Esmée’s Story

This story was collected as part of a campaign in support of the Mass Flight Memorial. If you have a story to share about your family’s mass flight experience, please write to us at news@eesti.org.au By Esmée Okamoto Why did I donate towards the creation of this memorial in Pärnu? I did it in honour of my Grandmother, Ella Toovis (née Tomson/Pein), who escaped war torn Estonia to the safety of Camp Hochfeld, a Displaced Persons Camp in Germany. My …
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Upcoming Events

See our Events Calendar for everything →

Recurring Events

Folk Dancing

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Do you have news or thoughts to share?

Please get in touch by emailing news [at] eesti.org.au

We are striving to improve communications among Estonian communities in Australia so that everybody can have the opportunity to share and hear about news and events.

Ultimately, the community gets what the community gives – we are humbly asking for your support. If there are events or news you know about, or have some thoughts or experiences you’d like to share, please reach out to us. Check out Submission Guidelines here or write to us at media [at] eesti.org.au with your questions or comments.

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