The folk music festival that takes place in Viljandi Castle Hills and city centre 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.
Our youthful and happy festival guests are cheerful and caring towards their surroundings and themselves, and open to the opportunities of falling in love and delving deep into something. That's the spirit of the festival! Viljandi Folk Music Festival has become one of the largest of its kind in the Baltic and Nordic countries.
The festival consists of:
Roots and treetops
Life around is changing at speed. Changes can bring about progress but also lead to unexpected situations and bring about emotions which people don’t know how to deal with. During confusing times like this, people need food for their soul and hope. Something that offers a sense of belonging, security and nourishment.
For a small nation, traditional culture offers a spiritual safety net and forms the foundation for the joy in people’s lives. The cultural diversity of the people in the world only functions as the spiritual treasure trove of humanity if each of the nations has their own singers, instrument players, craftsmen, choreographers and people who know their traditions.
Cultural characteristics are unique to every nation. A tribe can only survive when its youngsters are proud of their inheritance – if their young people are passionate, life-affirming, ambitious and open to change, love and taking on responsibility. Young people whose footsteps will be followed by the youngsters after them and so on
That’s why Viljandi Folk Music Festival has always organised workshops and courses. We have been organising the Estonian ETHNO camp for 25 years and almost all of the current Estonian traditional music stars have taken part in it in their youth. We are proud that we have managed to attract new youngsters who cherish our musical mother tongue to join us for an entire quarter of a century.
It’s time to celebrate our musical roots to honour and highlight the stars of the future. The theme of XXIX Viljandi Folk Music Festival is “Roots and treetops”. The festival focuses on the young traditional music talents – the bearers of our traditions.
Let’s meet again in Viljandi on July 28-31, 2022!
Viljandi Folk Music Festival pass is for a folk music fan who want to enjoy all four days of the festival and visit as many concerts as possible. The festival pass is exchanged for a cloth wristband and it grants access to all the outdoor concerts of the festival and indoor concerts at St John’s church and the Tradtional Music Center if there are free spaces and on a first come, first served basis.
Pass holders are offered a 50% discount on the tickets for the original song concerts at St Paul’s church which means that the tickets cost 10 euros. You can purchase these tickets on the Ticketer website by entering the ID number on your pass to the discount code field or at the festival by showing your wristband at the Freedom Square ticket sales booth. Tickets are also available at St John’s church before the concert if there are free spaces.
The number of festival passes is limited.
All children aged 12 and under can enter the Viljandi Folk Music Festival for free. If you are aged 13–26 years and studying, then the youngster’s pass is meant for you. Bring a proof of age and student status with you to exchange the youngster’s pass for a cloth wristband. The youngster’s pass grants you access to all the outdoor concerts and indoor concerts at St John’s church and the Traditional Music Center if there are free spaces and on a first come first served basis.
Pass holders are offered a 50% discount on the tickets for the original song concerts at St Paul’s church which means that the tickets cost 10 euros. You can purchase these tickets on the Ticketer website by entering the ID number on your pass to the discount code field or at the festival by showing your wristband at the Freedom Square ticket sales booth. Tickets are also available at St John’s church before the concert if there are free spaces.
The number if youngster’s passes is limited.
The Viljandi Folk Music Festival senior pass is meant for senior citizens aged 65 and over and is exchanged for a cloth wristband upon presenting proof of age. The senior pass grants access to all the outdoor concerts and indoor concerts at St John’s church and the Traditional Music Center if there are free spaces and on a first come first served basis.
Pass holders are offered a 50% discount on the tickets for the original song concerts at St Paul’s church which means that the tickets cost 10 euros. You can purchase these tickets on the Ticketer website by entering the ID number on your pass to the discount code field or at the festival by showing your wristband at the Freedom Square ticket sales booth. Tickets are also available at St John’s church before the concert if there are free spaces.
The number of senior passes is limited.
Day passes are meant for folk music fans who want to enjoy as many concerts as possible, but can only attend the festival for a single day. Just like the festival pass, the day pass is exchanged for a wristband and grants you access to all the outdoor concerts and indoor concerts at St John’s church and the Traditional Music Center if there are free spaces and on a first come, first served basis.
Pass holders are offered a 50% discount on the tickets for the original song concerts at St Paul’s church which means that the tickets cost 10 euros. You can purchase these tickets on the Ticketer website by entering the ID number on your pass to the discount code field or at the festival by showing your wristband at the Freedom Square ticket sales booth. Tickets are also available at St John’s church before the concert if there are free spaces.
The number of day passes is limited.
These passes are for folk music fans with a big heart who can and want to support traditional music. Purchasing a supporter’s pass is a beautiful way of supporting traditional culture while also gifting yourself a festival experience.
The price of the supporter’s pass is 550 euros (plus Ticketer’s booking fee) and it includes:
In collaboration with the Estonian Association of Big Families, Family Card owners can purchase a Family Card pass which grants access to the festival for everyone who is registered on the card. The Family Card Pass for the entire family costs 220 euros (plus Ticketer’s booking fee).
When you arrive at the festival, you can exchange the family pass for wristbands provided that the entire family is there at the same time. You need to bring an ID and a valid Family Card.
Family Card pass owners are granted access to all outdoor concerts and indoor concerts at St John’s church and the Traditonal Music Center if there are free spaces and on a first come, first served basis.
The number of Family Card passes is limited.
The number of all festival and day passes is limited. If there’s space, you can purchase evening passes which allow you to visit all the concerts and the Kuusemäe afterparty after 21.00 and until the programme for the day ends.
Evening pass prices:
THU, July 28 - 25 euros
FRI, July 29 – 30 euros, after 00.00 15 euros
SAT, July 30 – 35 euros, after 00.00 15 euros
SUN, July 31 – 15 euros
Viljandi Folk Music Festival takes place in the city of Viljandi and in the Castle Hills and the festival area is called the perimeter. All festival and day pass owners can enter the perimeter with their wristbands and all other guests can enter for free until 14.00 on the first three festival days (THU-SAT) and all day on Sunday. When entering at any other time, guests need to purchase a single entry ticket for 6 euros (3 euros for retired people and free for children under 12). Area tickets can be purchased during the festival.
Single entry ticket means that you can only enter the festival perimeter once – your ticket is no longer valid if you leave and you will have to purchase a new ticket.
On Friday and Saturday, original song concerts are held in St Paul’s church where all guests need to purchase a ticket. The ticket costs 10 euros for festival and day pass owners and 20 euros for everyone else.
You can purchase the tickets from:
FRI, July 29
18.00 Jaan Sööt and Andre Maaker
21.00 Lauri Saatpalu and Peeter Rebane
00.00 Leo Bianchini (Brazil)
SAT, July 30
18.00 Mari Jürjens
21.00 Kärt Johanson and Elina Reinold “Songs and poetry”
00.00 Raske Drenge (Belgium/Faroe islands)
Here's a little reminder for the ticket owner.
XXIX Viljandi Folk Music Festival takes place on 28–31th of July 2022 in the city of Viljandi, in the surroundings and in the hearts of folk friends!
This year, the festival area is divided into two:
You can access the festival using a festival pass, youngster’s pass, senior pass, day pass and if there’s space, with the evening pass which are sold at the festival.
This year, you can’t purchase single concert tickets for all concerts. Single tickets are only available for original song concerts that are held in St Paul’s church. Pass owners are offered a 50% discount for the tickets for the St Paul’s church concerts and you can purchase the ticket online by entering the ID number on your pass to the discount code field or at the festival by showing your wristband at the Freedom Square ticket sales booth.
Entry to the perimeter is free of charge on the first three festival days (THU-SAT) until 14.00 and during the whole of Sunday. When entering the perimeter at any other time, you need to purchase a single-entry perimeter ticket which costs 6 euros (3 euros for retired people and free for children under 12). The single-entry ticket grants you entry to the area only once, which means that the ticket will lose its validity when you leave the area and you will have to purchase another ticket if you want to enter again.
The ticket sales tent on Freedom Square is open for purchasing tickets and exchanging wristbands:
The festival pass, youngster’s pass, senior pass and day pass grant you access to all outdoor concerts during the festival and if there’s space, to the indoor concerts at St John’s Church and the Traditional Music Center on the first come, first served basis. On Friday and Saturday, original song concerts are held at St Paul’s Church where all guests need to purchase a ticket which costs 10 euros for festival and day pass holders. You can purchase concert tickets from Ticketer online by entering your pass ID number to the discount code field or by showing your wristband at the Freedom Square ticket booth.
Please be on time when you’re attending the concerts in the Traditional Music Center, St John’s church or St Paul’s church because you won’t be allowed in if you’re late. When attending outdoor concerts, remember that the earlier you arrive, the more choice you’ll have in terms of where you sit or stand.
No, this is not possible. A ticket is for one person only and it can not be shared with others.
Festival tickets are non-refundable unless there’s a specific notice stating otherwise. However, if for some reason you can’t make it to the festival after all, then you can freely sell your tickets, we have no problem with that.
We care about the environment and we kindly ask you to do the same – bring your ticket in your phone.
The number of all VIljandi Folk Music Festival passes is limited. We recommend you purchase your pass as early as possible.
The passes for the 2020 Viljandi Folk Music Festival can’t be used for the 2021 festival. Everyone who informed us that they wanted to use their pass for the 2022 festival filled in an application last year and were sent a new pass via email. If you can’t find your replacement pass, get in touch with help@ticketer.ee.
If you didn’t submit an application in 2021 and didn’t use your pass then your pass for the 2020 festival is no longer valid.
Please leave your pets at home – no pets are allowed in the festival area, including animals kept in bags and cages. Guide, hypo and assistance dogs are welcome.
Go check out our website www.viljandifolk.ee and subscribe for the newsletter to always get the freshest festival news.
You can also find us on Facebook under the name Viljandi pärimusmuusika festival / Viljandi Folk Music Festival and on Instagram #viljandifolk.
If you’d like to contact us directly, call +3724342050 or write to folk@folk.ee
