Many different Estonian musicians will come to Tartu as part of the Pride week. In addition, there will be exhibitions, workshops, movies and discussion groups.
At the opening of Tartu 2024 Pride, on August 13th at 6 p.m., a unique singer and songwriter INGER will perform in club Gutenberg. A wider audience has enjoyed them since 2017, when they reached the finalists of the Noortebänd / Youth band competition. INGER is characterized by skillful songwriting and catchy melodies. The jury and the audience of Estonian Song highly appreciated these two. INGER was voted to the finals in 2019, 2020 and 2023.
Pride week culminates with an open-air concert on the Town Hall square on Saturday, August 17th at 3 p.m. The Baltic’s only LGBTQ+ mixed choir Vikerlased, Andreas, Kaisa Ling Thing and su/mi will take the stage.
Vikerlased, a mixed choir coming directly to Tartu from a US concert tour, has been operating since 2017, being the first LGBTQ+ choir in Estonia and the entire Baltic region. Their repertoire includes both classical choral music and pop music arrangements. Vikerlased are both a singing festival- and a pride choir, whose singers come from very different backgrounds.
Provocative, political and boastful, yet refined and a little vulgar, Kaisa Ling Thing delivers a passionate message in dynamic musical form. Estonia’s best (and only) dirty blues collective stands out. Future grand old lady of Estonian blues Kaisa Ling sings. Pianist Rene Paul, double bass player Argo Toomel and drummer Peep Kallas are at home among the historic rhythm and harmony combinations. Vilja Kiisler has characterized Kaisa Ling as follows: “If charm, glamour and modern femininity have a name in Estonia, it is Kaisa Ling. And her Thing. Resistance is pointless, I recommend giving in.”
The youngest performer of the concert is probably Andreas – an Estonian singer-songwriter who started writing music at the age of 12. In addition to his guitar and very unique voice, Andreas loves to write heartfelt songs with a personal meaning behind them, gathering inspiration from his favorite artists.
su/mi is a found queer family: Jan, Eke and Fred tied their life paths together to create something special out of love for each other and music. The band started out of a desire to fill a hole in the Estonian music scene in the form of homoerotic hip-hop. To date, su/mi has dipped its toes into a variety of genres, from transmasc ukulele ballads to hyperpop sweet freedom anthems. In their songs, su/mi talks about their queer experience and expresses the frustration against homophobia and trans hatred. su/mi’s performances are like group therapy, leading through laughter, crying, jumping and screaming to radical self-acceptance and communal euphoria.
The concert is led and connected by drag artist Dykeonaut, who undoubtedly represents Tartu’s drag crust, being, among other things, the winner of last year’s Baltic Drag King title. Their drag reflects the diversity and color of the world. A thin mustache with glittery eyeliner, heels with a suit – that’s where Dykeonaut exists!
According to Kati Torp, creative director of Tartu 2024, the foundation of the European capital of culture is also cross-disciplinary scene. The Tartu 2024 program has a total of over 1,000 events where people with different cultural interests can find experiences. “Tartu 2024 Pride open-air concert is one of the events of the European capital of culture, with which we show that we boldly stand for European values, diversity and equal treatment,” said Torp.
The Tartu 204 Pride program can be found here.