Viru Folk, which kicked off on Friday, was held in the coastal village of Käsmu for the 17th time. Featured this year were Alpine musical traditions, and according to organizer Peep Veedla, this year's program was more impressive than ever.

"Never before has there been such a high concentration of yodelers in Estonia, and there never will be again," Veedla highlighted.

However, putting together such an expensive program this year has been quite the headache.

"If we had known a year ago that the Estonian state would end up doing so badly, with both people and businesses having little money, we would have done something more modest," Veedla acknowledged. "We've never had such an exciting program as this year before, because the number of international performers is impressive, and all of them flew in from Central Europe."

Held annually in the ruins of Pirita Convent for nearly 20 years now, the Birgitta Festival also had to work harder this year to get ticket sales moving than they did just a couple of years ago.

"You can sense somehow that people are more cautious in their decision to buy tickets, often leaving it until the last minute," said Birgitta Festival director Lennart Sundja. "From the organizer's perspective, this means being uncertain up until the final moments whether the venue will end up full or not. This has led to dynamic pricing, promotional campaigns and other such [strategies]."

Could switching to organizing festivals every other year, for example, bring any relief?

"Essentially that could mean a bit more space and breathing room for the Estonian festival scene," Sundja said. "I wouldn't rule it out, and we've also considered various options when discussing future plans for the Birgitta Festival, and all options are on the table."

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