‘Full Speed Ahead, Estonia!’, the final celebration of the jubilee year, took place in all county centres and in Narva. The organisers’ estimations of the numbers of attendees are as follows: Haapsalu – 400, Jõgeva – 500, Jõhvi – 2,000, Kuressaare – 4,500, Kärdla – 1,000, Narva – 3,000, Paide – 3,000, Põlva – 2,000, Pärnu – 8,000, Rakvere – 8,000, Rapla – 1,000, Tallinn – 20,000, Tartu – 12,000, Valga – 350, Viljandi – 500, and Võru – 1,000.
According to the data of the organising committee of Estonia 100, the feedback given to the final celebration of the jubilee year has been very positive across the country. ‘We are grateful to all Estonian cities and to the people who joined the initiative of a joint celebration to end the jubilee year. The New Year’s Eve on Estonian town squares was a friendly and lovely celebration and we hope it provides inspiration to New Year’s Eves of the future,’ said Soe.
More than 8000 people participated in the joint dance event
The joint dance event “Estonia Dances” united more than 8,000 people all over Estonia on the afternoon of 31 December. In addition to joint dances in 16 cities, several spontaneous dance events took place all over Estonia.
‘The true dance of the century took place on the last day of the jubilee year,’ said Maarja Liisa Soe, Head of the Estonia 100 Programme. ‘I am beyond glad that the joint dance united younger and older people, families and friend groups. Each participant contributed to ending the Estonia 100 initiative ‘Estonia Dances’ in memorable fashion,’ Soe added.
The initiative ‘Estonia Dances’ was led by the Estonian Dance Agency and Estonian Public Broadcasting in cooperation with the organising committee of Estonia 100. Nearly 200 dance videos were created during the jubilee year as part of ‘Estonia Dances’, all of which can be found on the website of Estonian Public Broadcasting at www.err.ee/eestitantsib.
Galleries of ‘Full Speed Ahead, Estonia!’, the final celebration of the jubilee year, and the joint dance ‘Estonia Dances’ are available HERE.