Scheduled to take place on 27–30 August in Tallinn, the international new music festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW) has revealed an updated line-up with artists from Estonia, elsewhere in the European Union and the Schengen Area. In order to increase possibilities for the public to participate, while keeping virus-related risks as low as possible, some of the festival’s indoor events will be moved outside, and a large outdoor stage will be set up on the central square of the Telliskivi Creative City.
The last hundred 65 euro passes are on sale at TMW web shop. Single showcase tickets are on sale at Piletilevi.
TMW would like to offer the best possible festival experience to as many visitors and performers as is currently possible, while ensuring the safety of all participants. That is why for the first time in the history of TMW it will be possible to enjoy part of the main music programme in open air. The 311.ee, Made In Baltics & Sony Music, and Viljandi Folk showcases have been moved to an open air stage at the Telliskivi Creative City, where up to 1,000 people can attend. On three nights, the outdoor stage will feature, among others, renowned Estonian folk acts Trad.Attack! and Mari Kalkun, Finnish accordion experimentalist Antti Paalanen and Latvian indie band Carnival Youth.
Since the Estonian border was reopened in June for travellers without symptoms of illness arriving from within the European Union, from the Schengen Area, and from the United Kingdom, most of the previously announced artists will be performing at the festival. Due to current restrictions on travelling, the festival cannot host the previously announced artists from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Israel, the United States and Canada. The entire programme has been adjusted accordingly, and most of the artists who can not join the festival due to travel restrictions have been replaced with other performers. TMW is working on a solution to enable US noise rockers A Place to Bury Strangers to perform here.
In total, 141 artists from 15 countries will perform at TMW 2020. Over 80 Estonian artists will make up the cross-section of the local musical landscape. Among others, the Estonian talent is represented by renowned folk acts Trad.Attack! and Mari Kalkun, jazz stars Kadri Voorand in duo with Mihkel Mälgand and Mingo Rajandi Quintet, electronic experimentalists Ajukaja, Mart Avi and Nikolajev, multiinstrumentalist Erki Pärnoja, funk-combo Lexsoul Dancemachine, and urban newcomers YASMYN and manna. Notable foreign performers at the festival include the shoegazers Joensuu1685 and the ambient jazz pioneer Tapani Rinne from Finland, Norwegian experimentalist Bendik Giske, Danish doom metallers Cabal, Latvian dreampop band Tribes Of The City, and the Hungarian troubadour The Devil’s Trade.
In addition to the open air gigs in Telliskivi Creative City’s main square, the music programme will spread all over the creative city – from the Black Hall of F-Hoone and the Kivi Paber Käärid locale to the Fotografiska Centre, where showcase nights will also extend to the summer garden. The programme also reaches the Sveta Bar and Kauplus Aasia clubs in the immediate vicinity of the creative city, and the Kalju Baptist Church in the Kalamaja district.
In the Noblessner Port area, three venues will host TMW showcase nights: the techno club HALL, the Nobel Hall of the Proto Invention Factory, and the Kai Art Center. Music can also be enjoyed in the open air in the HALL club’s summer pavilion Suvila and free daytime performances on the terraces and in courtyards across the city.
Webcasts from the selected venues will be provided by Telia.
The TMW 2020 programme on 27–30 August includes a three-day music showcase festival, a conference at the Estonian Academy of Art, and various city festival activities. On Saturday, 29 August, TMW will join forces with the community festival Koplifest at the former rubber factory Põhjala on the Kopli Peninsula. This year’s TMW will wrap up on Sunday, 30 August, with a tour in the district of Lasnamäe, and a picnic and concert at the Laagna community garden, organised in cooperation with the Lasnaidee initiative.
The full festival programme will be revealed in stages throughout the summer.
TMW 2020 will be organised in line with the rules in place for public events at the time of the event, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. All events will observe the guidelines to make sure that the participating public would be as dispersed as possible and keep a safe distance, that the capacity at venues would be filled to 50% and not have over 500 people in the audience indoors and 1000 outdoors. Disinfectants will be provided at all venues.
Artists and visitors from the EU, the Schengen Area and the United Kingdom are welcome at the festival. All those who arrive from outside Estonia will have to take into account that if they are arriving from a country with over 15 infected persons per 100 000 inhabitants over the previous 14 days, they will have to stay in quarantine upon arrival in Estonia first.
TMW would like to emphasise that persons, who have been infected with COVID-19 within 14 days before the event or persons who have had contact with a COVID-19 positive, as well as people with symptoms of acute respiratory infectious diseases (fever, dry cough, difficulty breathing), will not be allowed to attend the festival. Persons in the risk group (the elderly and those with chronic conditions) should avoid attending, if possible.
In order to reduce the risk of infection, the sale of festival passes will be limited, and further sales will focus on single tickets. The last hundred 65 euro music festival passes are on sale on the TMW website at shop.tmw.ee. Single tickets to concerts are on sale at Piletilevi.
The PRO pass (previously the Conference + Festival Pass, 175 euros), a new DigiPRO Pass (75 euros), Conference Pass (150 euros) and Supporter Pass (225 euros) are also available at the TMW web-shop. Telia clients receive 20% off regular ticket and pass prices purchased ahead of the festival. Additional information.
TMW 2020 is presented by Telia. The festival is organised by Shiftworks OÜ with various partners and co-organisers. The TMW 2020 music programme is organised in cooperation with the Damn.Loud agency. Showcases will be presented by Jazzkaar and the Estonian Jazz Union, the Viljandi Folk Festival, GROM, Sõru Saund, Manka Boutique Pop Festival, Made In Baltics & Sony Music, IDA, the Estonian Choral Association, TIKS Records, LAGI, 311.ee, House of Acid, Funk Embassy, Kivi Paber Käärid, and the foreign curators Tampere Talo and the Tampere 2026 Capital of Culture team, Sevkabel Port and the festival Stereoleto festival.
The conference music industry programme is created in collaboration with the Estonian music development and export office Music Estonia.
The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Cultural Endowment, the Tallinn City Culture Department, the Tallinn City Enterprise Department, and Enterprise Estonia (EAS).
The international activities of TMW, aimed at introducing Estonia as an attractive destination for those interested in music and culture, are supported by funds from the European Regional Development Fund.