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Tonight, at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, thousands of Estonians will come together and participate in the "Märkamisaeg" ("Time to Notice") Nocturnal Song Festival. The event is the high point of the 90th anniversary celebrations of the Republic of Estonia, linked to the theme "exile, resistance and restoration of independence". It commemorates the spontaneous events that took place on a massive scale 20 years ago, popularly known as
"Ärkamisaeg" ("Awakening"), which grew into the Singing Revolution and the subsequent restoration of Estonia's independence in August 1991.
More than 140 choirs, totalling over 3000 singers, as well as numerous Estonian musicians and pop stars, will be joined by tens of thousands of spectators for the 6-hour-long festivities. The programme will range from
popular national songs, ballads written during the fight for independence, and modern compositions by young Estonian composers.
At midnight, the President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, will deliver a speech in which he will draw parallels between Estonia in 1988 and Georgia today. To sing the festival to a close, at around 01:30 a.m., the popular Georgian group "Chveneburebi" (the name roughly translates as "Ours") will appear on stage. "Chveneburebi" is currently in Estonia at the invitation of the Georgian Embassy in Estonia. The Nocturnal Song Festival will start at 8 p.m. (CET) and last until 2 a.m. (CET). It will be broadcast by the Estonian Public Broadcaster (ETV) and by Vikerraadio. A live internet broadcast will be accessible on http://www.etv.ee/otse/
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