Performers take part in a rehearsal for the 20th Estonian Dance Celebration in Tallinn, Estonia, July 4, 2019. (Xinhua/Guo Chunju)
TALLINN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A four-day grand song and dance festival held in the Estonian capital culminated on Sunday in a patriotic themed concert.
The 7-hour concert called "My Fatherland is My Love" from afternoon on Sunday is planned to involve more than 32,400 singers and musicians from over 1,000 choirs and orchestras in Estonia and from abroad, said organizers.
The concert held at the Song Festival Grounds that can accommodate up to 100,000 people brought Estonia's song and dance festival to climax on its last day.
It is compared to the 4-hour opening concert "To the Teacher" which involved about 6,500 singers in performance.
Among activities of this year's song and dance festival was a 6-hour parade on Saturday. The 5-km march through Tallinn's main streets was attended by about 82,000 people, including President Kersti Kaljulaid and Prime Minister Juri Ratas.
People take part in the opening dance performance of the 20th Estonian Dance Celebration in Tallinn, Estonia, July 4, 2019. (Xinhua/Guo Chunju)
Gracing the nationwide festival, Kaljulaid has delivered speeches to highlight the cultural tradition represented by the national event.
Baltic song and dance celebrations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are held about every four or five years, was inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.
The song and dance festival in Estonia this year started from July 4 and devoted its first two days to the 20th edition of Dance Celebration, with major performances held at the Kalev Stadium, and the last two days to the 27th edition of Song Celebration.
The Song Celebration in Estonia can trace back to 1869 in Tartu, western Estonia, while the history of Dance Celebration is shorter, of 85 years.
