Tartu city to cough up €50,000 towards Metallica concert support
Tartu City is to contribute to the organizational costs of a rock concert featuring American group Metallica in July to the tune of €50,000.
The city government is to provide the funds to Live Nation, the company promoting the gig, at the Estonian National Museum (ERM) on the outskirts of the city on Thursday, July 18, according to daily Tartu Postimees.
That the support money is being announced so late in the day is because the funds became unavailable unexpectedly, with a little over that sum which had been earmarked for a personnel management app for the city government office being freed up as it was no longer needed, BNS reports.
The app has not been ditched, but rather requires more preparation work, it is reported. The funds have thus been redirected to the city's PR department for organizational support for the Metallica concert.
Other recent or upcoming events which Tartu City Government has also provided similar levels of financial support for include Rally Estonia, taking place this weekend, and the semi-finals of the Eesti Laul song contest, held to choose Estonia's Eurovision Song Contest entry.
Formed in Los Angeles in 1981, Metallica have sold over 125 million albums worldwide and currently lie in 61st place in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 all-time greatest artists list. The band has performed in Estonia before, most recently in 2010.
Editor: Andrew Whyte