Viljandi Folk Music Festival
The folk music festival that takes place in Viljandi Castle Hills and city center every July is the ultimate expression of the unique way of thinking that started spreading in the beginning of the 1990s. It values tradition, heritage and local identity and tries to adapt the spiritual values that people have developed over hundreds and thousands of years to the contemporary way of life. The aim of all of it is to keep our traditions alive, strengthen our national character and invigorate our musical mother tongue.XXXII Viljandi Folk Music Festival will take place on July 24–27, 2025!
XXXI Viljandi Folk Music Festival Set Records
The four-day largest festival at the end of July covered nine hectares of land, nine stages, and featured nearly 500 performers on stage and in workshops. The main program included 70 concerts from 65 groups, 11 of which came from abroad. Another 70 concerts took place on the free Green Stage and Sõprade Hoov located in the old town area.
Jazzwise
The festival which came to stay
Viljandi Folk Music Festival has made impressive progress since its conception. The small traditional music party has become one of the largest music festivals in the Baltic and Nordic countries which attracts thousands of people every year.
Our joint efforts have made Viljandi a household name at home and abroad. In addition to all the aforementioned awards and acknowledgements, the festival was also named the most successful tourism object or project in Southern Estonia one year which shows that the festival has given a boost to the tourism industry.
4 days
Four festival days filled with a rich program and emotional melodies take place in the enchanting atmosphere of Viljandi Castle Hills and its surroundings.
5 outdoor stages, 4 indoor stages
In addition to the outdoor stages located in Castle Hills, the festival program can be enjoyed at the Traditional Music Center and several other indoor venues in Viljandi.
More than 75 concerts + additional program
The concert program features nearly 50 artists from Estonia and around the world. The additional program includes diverse workshops, a handicraft area, a children's area, and many other exciting activities.
More than 20 000 visitors
If the first festival had 200 visitors, now for the last weekend of July, over 20,000 people come to Viljandi to be part of the grand festival.
Sustainable festival
Large events have an impact on the environment whether you want it or not. We care for our environment and our ecological footprint, so we take responsibility for our role in it and we hope to act as positive role models for our guests. It’s important for us to organise an environmentally friendly and sustainable festival — this is the only way we can preserve our nature where Estonian traditional culture was born and where it lives on. Only by being sustainable and environmentally friendly can we achieve our main goal — to preserve our musical native tongue and enrich the world.
