Emajõe Festival to bring fishing, sports, family and celebration days to ports and harbours in Tartu city centre
Tartu City Government
8. august 2017 / The River Emajõgi Festival, which this year is running from 17–20 August, will bring four days of entertainment and activities to Tartu.
As part of the festival, volunteer divers will be helping to clean up the Emajõgi River and bring ashore the wreck of a boat for curious onlookers to examine, there will be a floating cinema on a barge, 12 concerts and five sporting competitions, the majority of them taking place on the river. The festival’s Family Day will involve the Emajõe VESTival, which is being organised for little water lovers by the clowns Piip and Tuut. They will be teaching their young audience about safe use of the river at Karlova harbour and giving two performances. The busiest day on the programme is 19 August, when three river trams will be ferrying anyone interested between the festival venues. The day will end with a traditional river parade that always attracts a large crowd.
The festival will be opened on Thursday 17 August, which will also be Fishing Day. At the special Fishing Day centre, known as the Inland Waterways Embassy, visitors will be able to take part in fishing workshops and go fishing with the Mayor of Tartu.
Friday 18 August will be Sports Day. There will be an international strong man competition, a cup stage in the Estonian stand-up paddle-boarding (SUP) championships, the seven-bridge swimming marathon, a sprint competition for rowers and an entertaining demonstration SUP contest.
As part of Family Day on 19 August, three river trams (the Pegasus, Alfa and Jõmmu) will be traversing between the barge house, the Inland Waterways Embassy, Dorpat quay and Karlova harbour. For the first time as part of the festival, the river bed and banks between Dorpat and Sadamateater will be cleaned. The Maremark Tartu diving centre will be working with volunteer divers to raise an old wreck from the river bed, along with tyres and any other rubbish they find. There will be a children’s area overseen by the clowns Piip and Tuut at Karlova harbour, where there will also be water rescue dogs and two-legged members of the Rescue Board.
Taking place by the Kalevipoeg monument on the banks of the river on Sunday 20 August will be celebrations of the 26th anniversary of the restoration of Estonia’s independence. The day will also provide an opportunity for people to give their national costumes a good airing, as there will be a picnic in the park in the city centre which everyone is invited to attend in their finest traditional outfits.
Marking the end of both the Emajõe Festival and the Hawaii Ekspress Gran Fondo Estonia bike tournament will be a concert by The Tuberkuloited at the Inland Waterways Embassy.
The festival’s new paper art-style visuals were created by the design agency Faaz, who put a lot of skill and effort into them. Among other things, the graphics depict an unusual but undisputed long-term resident of Tartu: an albino duck that resides on the banks of the river called Effi, who will be relocating temporarily to Town Hall Square to herald the festival from 17-20 August. This is thanks to the home of good thoughts, the AHHAA Science Centre, which to date has been where the plastic double of the festival’s new mascot has lived.
Festival programme, performers and updates:
www.facebook.com/EmajoeFestival
www.instagram.com/emajoefestival
River tram day passes: www.piletimaailm.com/performances/73550-emajoe-festival-2017?lang=et_EE
For further information please contact:
Katrin Vask
Programme Manager & Event Organiser
Tiigi Community Centre
[email protected]
Mobile: +372 5348 2682
Viimati muudetud 08.08.2017