Estonian Cultural Days in New York isn't merely an event consisting of concerts, exhibitions and performances; for the Estonian-American diaspora, its meaning runs much deeper than that.

No other event all year brings as many Estonians together in Manhattan at once as the Cultural Days held each spring.

"Art exhibitions, concerts and theaters – all kinds of cultural events that bring together Estonians that don't typically come to the [New York] Estonian House," said Carl Skonberg, president of the New York Estonian Educational Society (NYEHS).

He explained that this helps them as the Estonian House, giving them the chance to introduce the NYEM, their calendar and their activity.

"I came here myself when I was a young boy; I grew up here," Skonberg recalled. "Now I have sons of my own, and I have a grandchild now too – and I hope that these new generations will try to keep this going."

"It's so important to keep Estonian culture alive outside of Eesti," said Arden Wichman, who was likewise born and raised an active member of the Estonian-American diaspora. "It's such a beautiful weekend, filled with so many different events and panel discussions and music. And I think it's really important that everyone understands how progressive Eesti is."

One of the highlights of this year's program was an Estonian Drama Theater performance – its 100th – of "Solist," a play based on the autobiographies of world-famous Swedish-Estonian pianist Käbi Laretei.

"It's said in the text here, in the second act, that something should happen so that things would change – an earthquake, for example," actor Kersti Kreismann said. "And we're here in New York and the earth actually quaked!"

According to Kreismann, it was a very different kind of reception at the NYEM, where the audience was very sensitive.

"There was a warm atmosphere – some kind of synergy," she described. "And they shared these things and thoughts. We got feedback from the audience, and we, at least, were left with a very good impression of it all."

"Estonians everywhere are all the same, but they're somehow a lot more tight-knit," actor Märten Mestaviir acknowledged. "You can really feel this strong sense of community in this building in particular, walking around in here. It's so well maintained; everyone's so friendly, they greet you, and you're mollycoddled, in a good way. And you can feel that when you're onstage too."

Also in the spotlight this year was composer Veljo Tormis' legacy of Estonian runosong, and there was no shortage of diaspora Estonian singers at a runosong workshop run by Celia Roose and Ants Johanson on Sunday.

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