These major events draw visitors from all over Estonia and abroad. If you plan to travel to Estonia to attend one of these events, then plan ahead!
There is always something going on in Estonia.
Tallinn and Tartu offer a wide variety of events throughout the year — from culture to sport, indoors and outdoors. But there is no shortage of events in other parts of the country either. Some festivals and competitions take place annually and have become established as exciting traditions. We have compiled the larger ones here in the order they occur throughout the year.
Plan a visit to see one of these spectacles for yourself!
Tallinn’s historic medieval taverns, elegant cafés, and retro restaurants offer diners a chance to step back in time while enjoying a delicious meal.
A trip to Tallinn is the closest you may ever come to time travel.
Thanks to the cobblestone streets and red-topped roofs, the medieval vibe is a given, but your time travel experience doesn’t have to stop in the Middle Ages. These historic Tallinn eateries can transport you back to any point in the last two hundred years.
Local Cuisine You Must Try While Visiting Estonia:
Eesti Kartulisalat (Estonian Potato Salad) – A well-loved dish featuring potatoes, peas, carrots, cucumbers, sausage, and hard-boiled eggs. A staple at gatherings and celebrations.
Mulgikapsad (Sour Cabbage and Barley) – A slow-cooked dish combining tangy cabbage, barley, and pork. Though time-consuming to prepare, it remains a classic in Estonian cuisine.
Mulgipuder (Barley and Potato Porridge) – A creamy and filling mix of barley, potatoes, and often bacon. Best enjoyed with rye bread and sour cream.
Verivorst (Blood Sausage) – A must-have during the Christmas season, made from pig’s blood, barley, and pork, typically served with cranberry jam, marinated pumpkin, and sour cabbage.
Wild Boar – A prized game meat known for its rich and bold flavor, featured in various Estonian dishes.
Kiluvõileib (Sprat Sandwich) – A simple yet flavorful rye bread snack topped with egg butter, hard-boiled egg, and sprat fillets. A classic part of Estonian food culture.
Pirukas – A savory or sweet pastry filled with ingredients like ham, cheese, cabbage, or apples, perfect as a quick bite or party snack.
Kringel – A beautifully braided bread often served at festive occasions. Sweet versions contain raisins or chocolate, while savory ones are filled with ham and cheese.
Kirju Koer (Spotted Dog) – A no-bake dessert made from biscuits, marmalade, cocoa, and condensed milk, enjoyed for its rich and chewy texture.
Kohuke – A small curd snack coated in chocolate, available in various flavors like vanilla and blueberry. Easily found in grocery stores and widely loved across Estonia.
The XXVIII Song and XXI Dance Celebration “Iseoma”
The XXVIII Song and XXI Dance Celebration “Iseoma” (“Kinship”) will take place from July 3rd to 6th, 2025. It is a traditional national event that covers the whole of Estonia, featuring over 40,000 choir singers, orchestral musicians, folk dancers, and folk musicians. More than 100,000 spectators gather to witness three dance performances, one folk music concert, and two concerts of the song festival. The procession of the song festival, which takes place on July 5th before the opening concert, is also very popular. The procession follows a 5-kilometer route from the center of Tallinn to the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.
Take a look at the biggest annual events in Estonia!
Visitestonia.com has put tohether a list ofthe most important events in Estonia. Plan a visit to see one of these spectacles for yourself!
The list includes different music festivals, major sport events, song- and dance festival, film festival – something for every taste. Take a look at the list here, invite your friends and family and see you in Estonia!
Tallinn Airport named best airport in Europe
Yesterday, 6 March, Airports Council International (ACI) World and the travel technology company Amadeus announced the winners of the 2022 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards, which recognise airports around the world offering an outstanding customer experience. One of the winners was Tallinn Airport, which earned the prestigious title of Best Airport among those serving 2-5 million passengers per year. It was also one of just five airports around the globe to be inducted into ACI World’s Roll of Excellence for having won multiple awards as part of the ASQ programme.
Riivo Tuvike, Chairman of the Management Board of Tallinn Airport, says everyone at the airport is delighted with the award. “As recognition goes, this is big!” he smiled. “It’s the result of years of dedicated work. The award belongs to everybody who works at Tallinn Airport, because the passengers we survey give us feedback on more than 30 aspects of the airport experience – from arriving and checking in to passing through security, and from the cleanliness of the place and the food on offer to getting out of the airport. Receiving an award like this isn’t something you can attribute to one person in particular: it means that every link in our chain has to be as strong as all the others.”
Passengers are at the heart of everything, and Tallinn Airport constantly seeks ways to make the customer experience even more convenient and efficient. “In June we opened a self-service bag drop for airBaltic and SAS passengers, and in September a new gate area with a self-service shop,” Tuvike explained. “And out of sight of passengers there’s a new fully automated baggage sorting system that’s transforming us into a modern, contemporary airport. To ensure that we remain competitive and to enhance services for our passengers we’re planning to invest in the expansion of the terminal, the development of our staff and new technology that will further boost the quality of our service. They’ll include cutting-edge equipment for scanning hand luggage and automatic boarding gates.”
ACI World issues the ASQ Awards in recognition of the world’s best airports for customer experience, based on survey information gathered direct from incoming and outgoing travellers. Launched in 2006, the awards constitute the world’s leading airport passenger satisfaction programme, involving almost 400 airports in 95 countries. The ACI surveys cover more than 30 performance indicators across key elements of the passenger’s airport experience, such as ease of finding your way around, check-in and shopping and dining offerings. This provides the most detailed overview of the passenger journey in every airport and a basis for global comparison in the aviation industry. More than half of the world’s travellers passed through an ASQ airport in 2022.
Amazing 10 cafes in Tallinn that should be on your radar. Some iconic places that have been in business for over 70 years, independent bakeries, gorgeous cafes to bring your dates to and sample some healthy yet delicious vegan goods.
Tallinn has been awarded first place among L-category meetings destinations at the MTLG Awards 2022. Since 2010, Kongres Magazine has been presenting the most interesting meeting destinations to international meeting planners. The 2022 L-destinations are cities that can host up to 2000 conference attendees, and Tallinn was the best meeting destination in 2022, for the second consecutive year. You can learn more about what makes Tallinn special and on what basis Tallinn was awarded points in Kongres Magazine.
10 of the Most Desirable Cities in Europe: Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards 2022 has awarded Tallinn, Estonia with the 2nd place!
For the 21st Annual Wanderlust Travel Awards, they asked their readers to vote for the places around the world that have captured their imagination and inspired their wanderlust. From sprawling metropolitans to historic districts, these are the top ten cities voted as the most desirable in Europe. On the 2nd place you can find the Estonian capital Tallinn! Find out more here: 10 of the Most Desirable Cities in Europe: Wanderlust Travel Awards 2022 | Wanderlust
The Tallinn Christmas market is the crown jewel of Christmas in Estonia. After all, it was named the best Christmas market in Europe in 2019 and has once again made the list of Christmas markets to visit all over the continent. The market may work its enchantment on you — making it hard to even think about leaving Tallinn — but the rest of Estonia is filled with magic during the holiday season. In cities large and small across Estonia, a real-life fairytale Christmas awaits. Shop for one-of-a-kind gifts at markets packed with handicrafts, see your children’s eyes light up with a visit to Santa’s farm, sample seasonal treats and hot mulled wine, and marvel at all the twinkling lights illuminating the winter sky.
International Ice Sculpture Festival in Jelgava, Latvia on 03–05 February 2023
Visit the park which has the largest exhibition of ice sculptures in the Baltics, and where musical shows, demonstrations of sculpture creation, and various activities for children will be organized. With the fall of night, visitors will be treated to synchronized ice sculpture, music, and light performances.
