According to Saareoja, due to the development of the property at Pirita tee 28 – the Tallinn Exhibition Center – this summer's Song Festival participants will not have a dedicated place to eat or recover strength between rehearsals and concerts.

"The Song Festival Grounds Foundation is currently drawing up a new detailed plan for the area, based on the concept design selected in 2022. Consequently, it makes sense to solve the issue of space in the detailed plan that will be drawn up, including catering and technical areas," said Saareoja.

Saareoja has therefore asked for financial support from the Ministry of Culture in order to acquire several plots of land on Pirita tee and Narva maantee.

"Based on expert assessments commissioned in 2024, the market value of the Pirita tee 8 property is €370,000 and the market value of the Pirita tee 10 property is €730,000. Pirita tee 10a and Narva maantee 81a are so-called Fahle gardens, which have been neglected for decades, and their transfer to the ownership of the Song Festival Grounds Foundation would also mean that area being turned into a public park," said Saareoja.

"For the privately owned properties at Narva maantee 77a and Pirita tee 28c, we have commissioned assessment reports, but these had not yet been completed at the time of this application," added Saareoja.

He also expects financial support from the ministry to acquire the properties in the Pirita and Lasnamäe directions as well as their use to cover the technical requirements of the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds when organizing major events.

In a letter to Saareoja, Minister of Culture Heidy Purga confirmed that she is aware of the problems related to the catering facilities for performers. However, the minister has no hope that funds will be available to acquire the desired properties.

"The Ministry of Culture is not in a position to support the acquisition of privately-owned neighboring properties due to the economic situation and cuts to the state budget," Purga said.

According to Purga, in order to merge the state-owned properties with the Song Festival Grounds property, the City of Tallinn has to initiate an application for municipal ownership of the lands.

"The Ministry of Culture can only back this with a letter of support," the minister said.

City: Neighboring estates must be involved

Tallinn Deputy Mayor Kaarel Oja said the city has been seeking new ways to organize catering facilities for Song Festival participants in the future.

"We know that we need to find a solution by 2031, and that we need to have it built by then. Saareoja's appeal to the Ministry of Culture is part of this process," Oja said.

"We have been working on this and are currently preparing the ground for the necessary detailed planning procedure. In this context, it has become clear that to solve the catering area problem, and indeed other logistical issues, we will indeed need to involve several smaller neighboring plots in the future," Oja added.

According to Oja, the city has discussed the issue with the private owners of the neighboring properties. With the discussions said to have been positive, they have also approached the state regarding the land.

"We will definitely initiate the application for municipal ownership of this land in due course," Oja added.

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