Viljandi Folk Festival

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Viljandi folk music festival

Location(s)	Viljandi, Estonia
Years active	1993 - present
Date(s)	Four days, Thursday to Sunday at the end of July.
Genre(s)	Folk music, Folk Rock, World music.

The Viljandi Folk Music Festival is a music festival in Estonia with a central focus on European folk music. It is traditionally held in late July, when the otherwise quiet city of Viljandi is completely transformed as the small city center is suddenly flooded with people. The main attraction of the festival is the friendly athmosphere. In the year 2006, over 24,000 people attended the concerts, but many more just come to take part in the festivities. As such, it is the largest annual music festival in Estonia, and one of the largest folk music festivals in Europe.

The festival itself has grown from a more traditional Estonian folklore festival to a massive enterprise with an increasing number of international celebrities. Even some of the key native bands headlining the festival could easily be classified as Folk Rock (Vägilased) and even Folk Metal (Oort). The modern and popular music influences makes it highly appealing to the youth and almost all university students have been to the festival before they graduate, but hardcore fans of Estonian ethnic music prefer the more traditional festival held in Võru (south Estonia).

[edit] History

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IX Viljandi Folk Music Festival July 26-29, 2001.
Headlined by Yat-Kha (Tuva), Väsen (Sweden), Fluxus (Belgium), Gerry O'Connor & Desi Wilkinson (Ireland).
X Viljandi Folk Music Festival July 25-28, 2002.
Headlined by Talitha MacKenzie (Scotland), Gjallarhorn (Finland), Atalyja (Lithuania), Fanfara de la Chetris (Romania).
XI Viljandi Folk Music Festival July 24-27, 2003.
Headlined by Haydamaky (the Ukraine), Värttinä (Finland), Galldubh (Ireland), Romano Drom (Hungary), Alberto Gutierrez et Maquinolandela (Cuba).
XII Viljandi Folk Music Festival July 22-25, 2004.
Headlined by Esma Redzepova (Macedonia), Esta (Israel), JPP (Finland), Mary Youngblood (USA), Dorsa (Northern Ireland), and BuB (Belgium).
XIII Viljandi Folk Music Festival July 28-31, 2005.
Headlined by Brolum (Scotland), Henrik Jansberg Quartet (Denmark), Fiddlesong (Canada), Osimira (Belarus).
XIV Viljandi Folk Music Festival July 20-23, 2006.
Headlined by Altan (Ireland), Filska (Shetland islands), Evgenij Genev & Balkan Folk Accoustic (Bulgaria), Csik Band (Hungary), Tummel (Sweden)