The 12th edition of TMW will take place from August 27-30 and includes a multi-venue music festival, Creative Impact Conference at the Estonian Academy of Arts, and various city festival events. 

Organizers have spent the past months developing various scenarios on how to remake the upcoming event in such a way that it can feature performers across Europe, and provide a networking platform for both local and global industries and audiences.

TMW 2020 Creative Impact Conference at the Estonian Academy will combine an in-person gathering with digital participation and spreading the programme to a virtual audience.

There will be an open-air stage at Telliskivi Creative City, which can be attended by up to 1,000 people. On three nights, the outdoor stage will feature, among others, renowned Estonian folk acts Trad.Attack! and Mari Kalkun, Finnish accordion experimentalist Antti Paalanen and Latvian indie band Carnival Youth.

As the Estonian border was reopened in June for travellers without symptoms of illness arriving from within the European Union, from the Schengen Area, and from the United Kingdom, most of the previously announced artists will be performing at the festival.

In total, 141 artists from 15 countries will perform at TMW 2020. 

Due to current restrictions on travelling, the festival cannot host the previously announced artists from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Israel, the United States and Canada.

The TMW 2020 programme includes a three-day music showcase festival, a conference at the Estonian Academy of Art, and various city festival activities.

On Saturday, August 29, TMW will join forces with the community festival Koplifest at the former rubber factory Põhjala on the Kopli Peninsula.

This year's TMW will wrap up on Sunday, August 30, with a tour in the district of Lasnamäe, and a picnic and concert at the Laagna community garden, organised in cooperation with the Lasnaidee initiative.

Helen Sildna, Head of Tallinn Music Week told ERR News: "Tallinn Music Week is the first international talent festivals taking place this season, welcoming European participants from safe destinations.

"This fact puts us in the spotlight of attention of the international festival community, who is following our story closely and hoping for us to succeed. If all goes well, our story can encourage and inspire and prove that by demonstrating professionalism and responsibility, innovation, good safety measures and smartness, our sector can return to life. 

"What allows us to go forward is our format of taking place at different venues across Tallinn. By combining outdoor spaces, scattered venues, 50 percent capacity restrictions with a hybrid conference concept and a careful international guests' policy, and by collaborating with the Estonia authorities and health & safety specialists, we are hopeful to be able to provide an encouraging example.

"The topic of health and safety has become a priority for culture, events, tourism and hospitality sectors, as a high standard in securing safe environments is something our future will depend on. The need to learn from each others best practices as well as mistakes, is clear. The pandemic has illustrated how tightly integrated our economies and ecosystems are - across sectors, across borders."

TMW 2020 will be organised according to the rules set in place for public events in order to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The festival is adjusted according to the restrictions that set the maximum attendance for open-air events at 1,000, and attendance for indoor events at 500 in Estonia.

The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Cultural Endowment, the Tallinn City Culture Department, the Tallinn City Enterprise Department, and Enterprise Estonia (EAS).

To find out more visit TMW's website.

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