Visitors in the thousands descend upon Paide for the festival, held in the shadows of the ruins of its crusader-era castle.

As with this year, the event is held on a weekend in mid-August, significantly swelling the town's resident population of around 8,000.

Concerns have however resurfaced that Arvamusfestival, founded in a spirit of free and open speech for all, is now overly influenced by sponsors and from other quarters.

According to some media reports, around 70, or one third, of the total number of discussions have sponsor names associated with them or are sponsored on some level.

Presiding over his final Arvamusfestival, chief organizer Kaspar Tammist denies claims that this can skew discussions.

He said: "This is false information. Buying or sponsoring discussions is not possible."

Taaniel Raudsepp, who will be taking over the reins from Tammist next year, also rejects the claims.

"In reality, supporters cannot control the content," Raudsepp said.

While sponsors often conduct the discussions themselves, their proposed ideas go through the same vetting process as ideas collected from all other sources, Raudsepp added.

The festival still requires funding, he added – this year's costs close to €360,000 – and this funding comes from sponsors and supporters, while the event is staffed by volunteers.

Sponsors can include municipalities and NGOs and other orgs, as well as private sector firms.

The funding comes "indirectly" from these sources, Tammist said.

A vox pop of attendees "Aktuaalne kaamera" conducted Friday seemed to back this.

One, Aivi Jürgenson, said: "Even if some discussion zones are sponsored, the speakers are not picked by the sponsoring company, nor is the discussion steered in a direction favorable to them, so democratic discourse should still prevail in these areas."

Siim Soonsein, also attending, said: "There is no cover charge, you simply get handed a wristband – but someone has to cover the costs."

Taaniel Raudsepp said he encourages everyone to participate in the idea collection process, to be more engaged.

This year's festival is as is customary accompanied by a cultural program. Under the direction of the local theater, the program this time round is titled "Kadunud Paide" ("Lost Paide").

Paide Theater spokesperson Mart-Matteus Kampus explained that sound and vision installations, photography and many other types of performances will make up the itinerary, which he said makes it "" truly interdisciplinary art festival."

According to the public schedule the 12th Arvamusfestival started Friday morning and continues all day Saturday, culminating in the political parties debate and followed by an after party into the small hours.

Love the #ArvamusFestival vibe! Glad Tallinn's diplomatic corps also involved. Hope that involvement will continue to grow and branch out @MFAestonia @mhkltamm pic.twitter.com/9kEBPvtDsb

— RaMurmoka (@RaMurmoka) August 10, 2024

There are around a dozen panel discussions in English, several of them involving foreign ambassadors and diplomats, representatives of ministries and other state agencies, academics, representatives from the military and from private sector firms.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!