Each year on February 24th, the Republic of Estonia celebrates Independence Day (Vabariigi Aastapäev).

Just over 100 years ago, between 1918 and 1920, the Estonian people were embattled in the Estonian War of Independence, standing resilient against the Soviet Western Front offensive. A defining moment unfolded on February 24th, 1918, when Estonia officially declared its statehood.

How will you celebrate the 106th Estonian Independence Day (EV106) this year in Australia? Check out our Events Calendar to see what’s on or browse our list below.

If you know of an event happening that is not listed, get in touch by emailing news [at] eesti.org.au

Sydney

Sydney Estonian Society invites you to celebrate the Estonian Independence Day. Speeches, performances and refreshments.

Event: EV 106 Tähistamine (save it in your calendar!)

Date: Saturday, 24th February 2024
Time: 1pm – 3pm
Tickets: Free entry with pre-registration (book here)

Facebook: Sydney Eesti Selts – Estonian Society of Sydney.

***

laupäeval, 24. veebruaril 2024
13:00 – 15:00

Sydney Eesti Selts kutsub kõiki tähistama Eesti iseseisvuspäeva. Pakume kohvi ja kooki ning kuulda-vaadata saab laulu, tantsu ja kõnesid.

Sissepääs tasuta ning eelregistreerimisega.
https://www.trybooking.com/CPAUH

Adelaide

Celebrate Eesti Vabariigi aastapäev with us at Estonian Hall on Sunday 25th. Performances by Vikerkoor and Hapukoor, light afternoon tea of sandwiches, cake, and coffee.

Event: EV106 @ Adelaide (save it in your calendar!)

Date: Sunday 25th February 2024
Time: 2pm – 5pm
Address: 200 Jeffcott St, North Adelaide
Tickets: Adults $5, Children Free (book here)

Facebook: Eestlased Adelaide’is

Perth

Celebrate this years’ Independence Day with a laugh. Join us at Universal Bar for a new comedy stand-up act with Sander Õigus!

Event: Sander Õigus: Perth Comedy Night (save it in your calendar!)

Date: Saturday, Feb 24
Time:
– Early Show: 7pm to 8:30pm
– Late show: 9pm to 11:30pm
Tickets: $40 via Eventbrite
Location: Universal Bar
Address: 221 William Street Perth, WA 6003

Melbourne

On the Monday after Independence Day (February 26th), comedian Sander Õigus will be performing a stand-up act at Estonian House (Eesti Maja).

Event: Sander Õigus: Melbourne Comedy Night (save it in your calendar!)

Date: Monday, Feb 26
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Ages: 16+
Tickets: $40 via Eventbrite
Location: Estonian House / Eesti Maja
Address: 43 Melville Road Brunswick West, VIC 3055

Tasmania

The Tasmanian Estonian Association is holding its combined AGM and barbecue on Saturday 24th February at 12.30pm at Tolosa Park (in Hut 10), Glenorchy, near Hobart.

BYO food and refreshments.

You are all very welcome to come along!

Event: Tasmanian Estonian Association AGM and Barbecue (save it in your calendar!)

Facebook: Eestlased Tasmaanias

Estonia and Beyond

If you are out of the country this year, jump over to Global Estonians to have a look at what celebrations are happening in other corners of the world.

In Estonia, Independence day is a national holiday celebrated with a televised flag raising at Pikk Hermann Tower, the ancient defensive stronghold next to Toompea Castle, fireworks, a parade, and a presidential reception.

See more at: VisitEstonia

Do you know of an event happening in your area?

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, please reach out to us.

Follow us here or join our brand-new Facebook page for the latest updates on our Media Project.

Watch the replay of the live stream here to determine Estonia’s 2024 Eurovision representative

Eesti Laul (‘Estonian Song’ or ‘The Song of Estonia’) is an annual music competition – kind of like Australian Idol – that determines Estonia’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. It has been staged every year since 2009. 

Posted on the Eurovision YouTube channel, watch the spectacular 3+ hour Eesti Laul final live stream by Estonian public broadcaster ETV otse / ERR.

Timestamps:

• 11:34 : Brother Apollo – Bad Boy
• 17:50 : Carlos Ukareda – Never Growing Up
• 26:52 : Ewert and The Two Dragons – Hold Me Now
• 37:06 : Anet Vaikmaa – Serotoniin
• 44:07 : OLLIE – My Friend
• 50:15 : Daniel Levi – Over the Moon
• 58:22 : Uudo Sepp, Sarah Murray – Still Love
• 1:04:25 : Peter Põder – Korra veel
• 1:10:08 : 5MIINUST x Puuluup – (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi
• 1:18:52 : Nele-Liis Vaiksoo – Käte ümber jää
• 2:12:00 : Juries results
• 2:35:36 : Public results
• 2:58:35 : Top 3
• 3:04:10 : Winner Performance

What do you think of this year’s winner?

Cheer them on at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö Sweden, this May. Estonia will compete in the second half of the second-semi final.

If the three hours is too much, Estonian personality Andrei Zevakin released his reactions to the Eesti Laul contenders (no English subtitles):

If you’d like to share a reaction or story about Eesti Laul 2024, email us at news [at] eesti.org.au

From WOMADelaide site

A voice that speaks from the heart of the Estonian forest, Mari Kalkun’s music is deeply personal, yet at the same time rooted in ancient Estonian and Võru traditions. The purity of her voice and her sparse musical arrangements resonate with meaning, even though sung in the Võro language, which only about 75,000 people still speak. Combining folk traditions with innovative songwriting, Kalkun is one of the most forward-looking folk artists today, creating intimate music, born of Baltic winter forests and icy landscapes. She plays a variety of instruments, including kannel (ancient Estonian zither), piano and drones and has released eight albums in Estonia, Europe and Japan, where she has her largest listener base.

Workshop – Secrets of Estonian Runosong:

Singer and musician Mari Kalkun’s workshop offers an experience to the archaic world of singing and poetry called the runosong. Introducing the 4,000-year-old song tradition, Kalkun takes us to her home region in Southern Estonia and offers an insight into her own music creation inspired by the forest and contemporary poetry. Võro runosong tradition is characterised by speech-like melodies almost reminding us of rap music, repetitive choruses, laments and powerful wedding songs. Võro language,  in which the songs are sung, is the language of Mari’s home region. It is the oldest Indigenous language actively spoken in contemporary Estonia, spoken by 75,000 people. As Estonian runosong tradition has endured for a relatively long time, the archive collections are considered to be one of the largest in Europe. You only need your voice for this workshop!

SAT, 9th March @ 2:30pm

Moreton Bay Stage 5 for Workshop

SUN, 10th March @6:15pm

Moreton Bay Stage 5

MON, 11th March, 6:00pm

Stage 7

For tickets and more information, check the WOMADelaide site:

Based on real events, this powerful drama series explores the tragic disaster of the Estonian-Swedish car ferry MS Estonia and its aftermath through personal stories of the victims, survivors and the investigators searching for the truth. 

The 8 part series is now streaming on SBS on demand:

From Thursday, 15th of February, the Archive will be open Thursdays, 10am to 3pm or by appointment.

Last year, we launched an Australian Estonian Media Communications project – supported by the The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Estonian National Foundation of Civil Society.

We wanted to know the needs and wants for media and communications among the Estonian Australian community. So in October, we conducted a survey to better understand. Thanks to your help, 162 people across Australia responded!

In the graphic below, you can see what we learned.

You can also download the pdf here: 2023-Estonian-Australian-Media-Survey-Results

Our next step was to run a workshop with participants from all around the country. This survey data provided the key insights needed for that workshop.

If you want to see the results and how we used this survey data to help formulate our strategy, click here.

What do you think of the results? Is there anything you would like us to know? Email us at media at eesti.org.au

After 29 years as honorary archivist for the Estonian Archives in Australia, Maie Barrow has decided to retire. Maie remains on the Council of EAA and will continue to work in the Archive as a volunteer.

“We would like to thank Maie on behalf of the AESL, all Estonian Societies and organisations across Australia for all that she has achieved in the 29 years that she has been with the EAA.

Over the years, Maie has grown and transformed all the material into an organised and ordered Archive for the Estonian diaspora in Australia. The material is now situated in a new purpose-built facility that opened last year in November 2023. Maie has provided support for all the people who came to her. The work has led to international plaudits for both Maie and the EAA.

A Truly Incredible work!”

Dr Juho M. Looveer
President, AESL
(Council of Estonian Societies in Australia, Inc)

The new honorary archivist is Dr Terry Kass. Terry is a professional historian and author of 11 books, all based on research in original sources. Two books have won awards from the Australian Society of Archivists, whilst others have been similarly recognised. He has conducted research in state and national archives and libraries over a career of over 40 years. He has sat on advisory panels for archives in Australia. Taking up this new role gives him an opportunity to apply that experience to Estonian archives.

The 2024 Australian Baltic Games will be held in Adelaide in April. Viktors is keen to have Estonia reporesenet and is skeeing both Basketball and Volleyball players to represent Estonia.

When: Fri 26th and Sat 27th of April, 2024
Where: The Red Centre, Dequetteville Tce, Kent Town, SA

Please contact Viktors on 0413 018 588 if you are interested in representing Estonia!

Voting is now open and Estonia’s own Viiralt’s Oak is a finalist in the European Tree of the Year!

Website: https://www.treeoftheyear.org/

The European Tree of the Year contest originated in 2011. It was inspired by the popular Tree of the Year contest, which has been organised in the Czech Republic by the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation for many years. The European round is a finale consisting of the winners of the national rounds.

Every year in February, the online voting for the European Tree of the Year is organised by Environmental Partnership Association (EPA). The first European voting was organized in 2011. Since then the number of countries involved in the contest has risen from 5 to 16. 

“Viiralt’s Oak, named after well-known Estonian graphic artist Eduard Viiralt’s 1943 engraving, stands proudly in Estonia’s Viljandi area. This 13-meter-tall tree, also known as Tamme-Koori tamm, holds historical intrigue.”