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How can a concert venue play a role in a nation's history and identity? In Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, there sits a festival grounds which acts as a lasting symbol of national pride due to its role in the singing revolution that led to the overthrow of Soviet rule. You're listening to Tall Stories, a monocle production brought to you by the team behind the Urbanist. I'm Andrew Tuck. In this episode, Petri Buttsoff takes us to the Tallinn Song Festival grounds.
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For Estonians, the Tallinn Song Festival grounds, or Laulu Valiak, as the locals call it, is much more than a building. It is here, in this leafy 30 hectare park and its vast open air stage, that a nation quite literally sang itself free from half a century of Soviet occupation. In 1988, hundreds of thousands of people gathered on these slopes to sing forbidden patriotic hymns. What began as spontaneous evenings of songs became known as the Singing Revolution, a peaceful mass movement that would soon help bring an empire to its knees. Estonia has always been a nation of song. Long before independence, in feudal villages under German rule, farmers would gather to sing together and to play bagpipes. Many of the melodies that later carried the country toward freedom were born in these communal moments. In 1869, this tradition took formal shape with the first Estonian Song Festival, an event that has been held ever since and is widely credited with shaping the country's national identity. When the Soviet Union occupied Estonia during the Second World War, the authorities allowed the song festival to continue, but only under strict censorship. Patriotic songs were banned, the national anthem was forbidden. Even the blue, black and white Estonian flag was deemed anti Soviet. Yet despite this, the tradition endured, and in a historical irony, the Soviet leadership even approved plans for a new, larger and more acoustically ambitious stage. This is how the venue that would later shape Estonian history was born. Nestled on a hillside in Tallinn's Gadriorg park, overlooking the medieval old town and the blue waters of the Baltic Sea, the stage is impossible to miss. A sweeping, self supporting arch canopy shelters space for up to 20,000 performers. Standing on 50 rows of steps, its curves, often compared to the famous Hollywood bowl in la, amplify the human voice with remarkable power, carrying sound to crowds of up to 100,000 people. Spread across the grassy amphitheater below. The structure is supported by two vast arches, a concrete rear wall and a steel front span stretching 73 meters wide and rising 32 meters high. When it was completed in 1960, it was celebrated as a triumph of Soviet modernism, even though the architects and engineers behind it were all Estonian. Nearby stands a 42 meter tower where a ceremonial flame burns every five years during the Song festival. Why Soviet authorities agreed to build such a potent cultural monument has long puzzled historians. After all, it was common knowledge that the song festival was of major importance to the Estonians sense of of identity and independence. Many now believe the grounds were seen as a showcase of Soviet architectural ambition and as a suitable centerpiece for marking the 20th anniversary of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1964. What they underestimated was the power of collective memory. Two decades later, the political climate began to shift. Under Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika, new freedoms emerged. And nowhere where they felt more strongly than here. Night after night, people gathered at Lauluvaliaq to sing band songs and wave forbidden flags. On 11th of September 1988, an estimated 300,000 Estonians assembled on these grounds in a profound display of unity. There was no turning back. The movement soon spread across the region. In August 1989, nearly 2 million people joined hands to form a human chain stretching from Lithuania through Latvia to Estonia. The Baltic Way, it was called.
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Using radio broadcasts to coordinate their chain, people all across the Baltic states formed a line for nearly 400 miles from.
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Historic Lithuania declared independence in March 1990, followed by Latvia and Estonia in May same year. Half a century of occupation and oppression came to an end a year later when the Soviet Union recognized the independence of all three Baltic states. This is why Lauluvaliak remains sacred ground. It is a place where freedom was reclaimed without weapons, where voices raised together proved stronger than fear. And yet the story does not end with independence. Today, the Tallinn Song Festival grounds continue to evolve. The great song celebrations still return every five years, drawing tens of thousands of performers and nearly a thousand choirs in between. The stage has hosted global stars from the Rolling Stones to Madonna, Metallica and Michael Jackson, as well as everyday moments, picnics, walks, sunsets and the simple pleasure of standing where history was made. Because in the end, Lauluvalac is not only about the past, it is about what happens when people come together and lift their voices as one.
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Tall Stories is a monocle production from the team behind the Urbanist and this episode was written by Petri Butsov and produced and edited by David Stevens. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to receive new episodes every week. I'm Andrew Tuck. Goodbye and thank you for listening. City Lovers.