The Long Roots of the 2010s: Decolonial Continuities and the Estonian Song Festival Tradition

Laulupidu, the Estonian Song Festival, has flourished for 150 years and shows no signs of old age. This essay examines this postcolonial phenomenon, whose role and popularity can only be understood in relation to the history of decolonial power struggles in the Baltic region. The tradition of national song festivals in the Baltics dates back to the 1860s and continued throughout the late Tsarist era, the independence period, and the Soviet era, culminating in the late-1980s "Singing Revolution," and it continues to this day. The author also pays attention to the particular generational dynamics that singles out teenagers (and especially older teenagers) as largely unsusceptible to the allure of decolonial traditionalism.