In all, 10,972 dancers and gymnasts have been selected to perform in this summer's dance festival, which is structured differently than in the past.

Helena-Mariana Reimann, principal choreographer for the XXI Dance Festival, explained that "Kinship" will tell the story of a family reunion journey, with each region presenting its own story through dance instead of the traditional performer categories used in past festivals.

For the purposes of this year's festival, Estonia has been divided into eight regions. By region, "Kinship" will feature 1,216 dancers from the West Coast (Hiiu, Saare, Lääne and western Harju counties), 1,039 dancers from the North Coast (eastern Harju, Lääne-Viru and Ida-Viru counties), 1,074 dancers from Tartu-Voore (Tartu and Jõgeva counties), 740 from the Southeast (Võru and Põlva counties), 494 from Sakala (Viljandi and Valga counties), 794 from the Central Heartland (Rapla and Järva counties), 506 from Pärnu County and 1,054 from the capital, Tallinn.

The festival will also include four so-called pan-Estonian categories, including 1,962 dancers in women's troupes, 1,112 gymnasts and 464 dancers in select mixed-gender troupes.

Diaspora dancers from all over the world

Also joining the lineup in the debut of the Worldwide (Üleilma) will be 517 dancers from Estonian dance troupes active in the diaspora.

The Estonian Song and Dance Festival Foundation confirmed to ERR News that the following dance troupes have been confirmed to dance in the Worlwide category in the XXI Dance Festival "Kinship" this summer:

Worldwide mixed troupes

Trondheimi Trollid, Hamburgi Pääsuke, Tulehoidjad, Ülelahedad I, Ülelahedad II, Euroviisud, Vancouveri Kilplased, Virvel, Oslo Viikingid Segarühm, Saare Vikat, Kivikasukas ja Gypsy, Folkloorirühm "Neevo", Segarühm Viilukad, Toronto Kungla, Austraalia Virmalised, ET Teatri tants

Worldwide women's troupes

Luksemburgi naisrühm Laiali, Brisbane'i Eesti Naiste Rahvatantsurühm "Folkroos", Brüsseli Pöörised, Naisrühm "Hygge" 1, Naisrühm "Hygge" 2, Nou Pois Äläud-I, Nou Pois Äläud-II, Tuuletütred, Oslo, Viikingid Naisrühm, Helsingi Helmed, Nopsajalad, Naisrühm Viilukad, Berliini Keerutajad, Vingerpussid, Mitmekandi naised, Iiris, Hollandi Austria Belgia ühisrühm

Worldwide family troupes

Londoni Pererühm, Vingerpere, Europere, Tuulepere, Lahepere

More traditional music

Reimann highlighted that in addition to the dances themselves, significant emphasis has been placed on traditional music this time as well. For example, dancers from Southeastern Estonia will be accompanied by accordions and garmons (karmoškad), while west coast dances will be accompanied by the talharpa (Hiiu kannel), a type of zither.

In all, over 100 musicians in more than 30 different musical collectives participated in recording the music for this year's dance festival.

According to the principal choreographer, women's troupes and gymnasts faced the fiercest competition to be selected for this year's event — as has unfortunately been the case with every dance festival.

Even so, organizers managed to make space for a third more women's troupes this time, allowing more dedicated women dancers to perform in the festival.

"I believe and hope that all the committed troupes whom we couldn't fit on the field this time will still perform the repertoire they learned for the festival at local events and elsewhere," Reimann said.

"We're also welcoming all dancers who took part in the preliminary rehearsals but didn't make the cut for the main festival to come experience the dress rehearsal performance," she added.

Altogether, more than 550 county-level preliminary rehearsals have been and are continuing to be held across Estonia in the run up to this summer's XXVIII Song and XXI Dance Festival. While dancers learned the results of their audition on Friday, preliminary rehearsals for the song festival are still ongoing, as choir and orchestra chiefs continue making their way around Estonia for more than another month.

Choirs and orchestras that perform well in their auditions receive feedback immediately afterward. Those for whom the audition didn't go quite as smoothly will have to wait until all ensembles have completed their audition — that is, until May 22 — when the artistic committee will make its final decision on which groups will take part in the festival.

The results of folk music auditions will likewise be announced next month.

Time-honored tradition

Estonia's first Song Festival was held in Tartu in 1869. The first Dance Festival was held in 1934, and the first Youth Song and Dance Festival took place in 1962.

Estonia's all-ages and youth festivals have each typically taken place every five years, on a staggered schedule.

In November 2003, UNESCO added Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania's song and dance festival tradition to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The XXVIII Song and XXI Dance Festival, titled "Iseoma" ("Kinship"), will be held in Tallinn on July 3-6, 2025.

The XXI Dance Festival will include three performances at Kalev Stadium on July 3 and 4, and folk musicians will give a free concert at Tallinn's Freedom Square on Friday, July 4.

The Song and Dance Festival Parade and opening concert of the XXVIII Song Festival will take place on Saturday, July 5, with the main concert to follow on Sunday, July 6.

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