In Tallinn this week? If you’ve spotted thousands of suspiciously cheerful people heading towards Tallinn Song Festival Grounds wearing band T-shirts and talking excitedly about what they’re having for dinner, mystery solved. Õllesummer is back!
Despite the name, Õllesummer (Beer Buzz or Beer Summer) isn’t really about beer. Well… it is. But also not.
Yes, there is beer. Quite a lot of it, in fact. Yet somehow you’ll also find toddlers with melting ice creams, grandparents happily listening to Anne Veski, teenagers disappearing towards the amusement rides, couples on date night, families pushing prams and at least one person trying to convince everyone that this is definitely the year they’ll finally win the giant stuffed bear at the Tivoli. Beer remains entirely optional. Having a good time is considerably less so.
Every Estonian knows Õllesummer. They just can’t agree about it.
Our extensive “research” (consisting of asking a handful of nearby Estonians and confidently pretending this counts as sociology) produced several fascinating conclusions.
“It’s nowhere near as big as it was in the ’90s.”
“It’s making a comeback.”
“I haven’t been for years.”
“I love it!”
“I only came because my friends made me.”
“I came for Terminaator… but there’s so much more!”
Scientifically speaking, this tells us absolutely nothing. Except that everyone knows what Õllesummer is.
Õllesummer, 1 July 2026. Photos: Kristel Alla.
We suggest you bring your appetite. This is not the place for admirable self-restraint. Every few metres someone is grilling something that smells incredible. Barbecue smoke drifts lazily across the grounds, food stalls compete for your attention and your carefully thought-out dinner plans quietly surrender.
You’ll also discover drink menus that deserve awards for creativity. One stand offers beverages called “Sex with the Ex”, “Emotional Damage” and “Dirty Rhubarb.” If those aren’t conversation starters, we’re not sure what is.
The real reason people come back year after year isn’t the beer. It’s the music. Singing loudly, after all, is practically an unofficial national sport in Estonia.
The line-up is packed with the kind of Estonian artists who can trigger an entire audience to start singing after hearing approximately three notes. The songs everyone somehow knows. The ones your parents played. The ones you danced to at school discos. The ones you swore you’d forgotten… until the first chorus started. The ones you may or may not have performed into a hairbrush in front of the bedroom mirror, accepting imaginary awards to thunderous applause. (No judgement. We all had dreams. Frankly, we think they could have been a little bolder.)
This year almost 100 performers take to eight stages, including international stars INNA, Katrina and the Waves, Dingo, Groove Coverage and DJ Sash!, alongside a long list of Estonian favourites including Terminaator, Smilers, 2 Quick Start, Anne Veski, Ivo Linna, Koit Toome, Ines, Nublu, Caater, and many more.
Find yourself under the Song Festival Arch… but backwards.
Here’s a fun surprise if you were at last year’s Laulu- ja Tantsupidu (Song and Dance Celebration). This time you’re sitting where the choir usually sings. The main stage has moved to the audience side of the grounds, meaning spectators enjoy concerts from beneath the famous Song Festival Arch. An excellent decision. Particularly if the Estonian weather remembers it’s Estonia. Fortunately, the organisers seem to have negotiated reasonably favourable terms with the rain gods so far.
If you’re in Tallinn this weekend, we’d recommend wandering over. Whether you come for the music, the food, the nostalgia, the carnival rides, the people-watching or simply to discover what exactly Dirty Rhubarb tastes like, Õllesummer remains one of those uniquely Estonian summer traditions that’s difficult not to enjoy.
See you there. We’ll be conducting important journalistic research into the music, the atmosphere and whether anyone has ever successfully ordered a drink called Emotional Damage with a completely straight face.
Event details
📅 1–4 July 2026
🕔 From 3 pm (Saturday), from 5 pm (other days)
📍 Tallinn Song Festival Grounds (Tallinna Lauluväljak), Narva mnt 95, Tallinn
🎟️ Tickets: Piletilevi
🎤 Program here
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