The budget for the Tartu 2024 Foundation has been in place since 2019. Despite a general rise in prices over the last year, the foundation has not had to make any major changes since then.

"We're not investing in buildings, so all this money is going into people and organizing events. The price increases that we have seen in construction and elsewhere don't affect us that much," explained Tartu 2024 CEO Kuldar Leis. 

Projects, which are part of the Tartu 2024 program, are able to find additional funding from two types of sources - via external grants or from Estonian businesses. However, according to Leis, Estonian businesses are not yet accustomed to supporting cultural projects.

"There is a will here to invite as many Estonian entrepreneurs as possible to participate in the activities of Tartu 2024," he said. 

Leis added, that when putting the program together, the aim was to hold events throughout the entire year and in different regions.

"A lot of the projects are not just based in one location, but involve several municipalities working together. So, the same event will take place in several municipalities, or happen (in different locations) at the same time," he explained. 

Next week, details of a further 28 projects and events, which will be part of the Tartu 2024 program, are set to be made public. Kati Ilves, artistic director of Tartu 2024 said, that they will cover the whole of south Estonia, giving people the chance to go to places they would not usually visit.

Ilves said, that Tartu 2024 is a large regional project with the broader aim of bringing about positive change. Therefore, it made sense to do things on a large scale.

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