It’s not every day a community committee swaps their meeting notes for microphones and dance shoes — but that’s exactly what happened this July, when five powerhouse women from the Estonian Society of Sydney took to the stage at Laulu- ja Tantsupidu 2025 in Tallinn.
Of the Society’s nine committee members, five are women — and incredibly, all five were on stage: singing, dancing, or (in one very impressive case!) doing both. Add to that one committee member who made the journey to support from the audience, and that’s six out of nine represented in Tallinn. Not a bad showing for a volunteer-run committee based on the other side of the globe!
Who was where (and doing what)
Here’s a snapshot of what our talented Sydney women were up to in Estonia.
- Ave Nukki, the fearless President of the Estonian Society in Sydney, sang with Kooskõlas Choir
- Siiri Iismaa, our Secretary, also lent her voice to Kooskõlas
- Lia Chinnery, who keeps the meeting minutes on point, joined them in song too
- Taimi Maidla, the creative spark behind the socials, danced with the folk dance group Virmalised
- And Ximonie Clark, our multi-talented Treasurer, did both — dancing and singing her way through the festival!
We couldn’t be prouder. They give so much of their time and energy to the community year-round — and then they went and gave even more on the biggest cultural stage Estonia has to offer.
Estonian women leading the way
In a fitting twist of synchronicity, this year’s festival was also the first time all three general directors of Laulu- ja Tantsupidu were women.
- Heli Jürgenson led the Song Celebration as Artistic Director
- Helena-Mariana Reimann, who some of you may remember from her visit to Australia last November for the Virmalised dance training weekend, was the head organiser of the Dance Celebration
- Helin Pihlap directed the Folk Music Celebration.
The message couldn’t be clearer: Estonian women are not just participating — they’re leading, creating, inspiring and keeping culture alive wherever they go.
A celebration of kinship — across generations and continents
For all of us, this wasn’t just another festival. It was a gathering of hearts, voices and generations — a living, breathing reminder that wherever we are in the world, we are connected. Through song. Through dance. Through kinship.
And in this story, Estonian women were absolutely centre stage.
Elagu Eesti naised — Long live Estonian women! 💙
P.S. Gentlemen, we see you too!
We’d love to write about our awesome Estonian Australian men next time — so this is your friendly call-out to join the committees of Estonian societies across Australia (and start dancing and/or singing). That way, come festival time in 2028, you’ll be front and centre in our stories too. (And hey, if we missed you this time — don’t be shy! Write to us at news[at]eesti.org.au and let us know.)
Acknowledgement
Thank you to Ave Nukki for this information and poster!
More inspiration?
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out this wonderful article published by The Guardian on 23 July 2025:
“Women are the guardians of our culture’: why Kihnu is Estonia’s island of true equality”
