Tradition and Youth in Estonia

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Tradition and Youth in Estonia

• Taavi Rõivas
• Kristi Jeenas
• Liisi Bucht

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General data

• Population 1 439 197 (01.01.2000)
• Total area 45 227 km2
• Currency Estonian kroon (EEK)
• 1 DEM 8 EEK
• 1 EUR 15,6466 EEK
• Polity Parliamentary Republic
• Head of state President - Lennart Meri
• Official language Estonian
• Ethnic minorities Russians 28
• Ukrains 2,5
• Belorussians 1,5
• Finns 0,9

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Colleagues or competitors?
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Cultural events that represent more or less
traditions

• National singing and dancing festivals
• First held in 1869
• Approx. 35 000 singers
• Approx. 10 000 dancers
• Folk music festivals in Viljandi
• Folk music festivals in Võru
• Beersummer

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National holidays celebrated by most young people

• Independence Day (24.02)
• Estonias firstgained independence (1918) is
  celebrated all over the country
• People go to parades and churces
• Shrove Tuesday (varies)
• People eat pea soup and pigs legs
• If possible, people compete in sledging
• The night of volber (30.04)
• Celebration of winter turning to summer
• People get very drunk

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National holidays celebrated by most young
people

• St Johns Day (24.06)
• Celebration of the years longest day
• Fires are lit all over the country, people party
  till dawn
• St. Cathrines Day (25.11)
• Young people (mostly kids) run from house to
  house to perform acts (songs and dances) in order
  to get candies and stuff
• Kids are dressed up (as women, mostly in white)
• Christmas Eve (24.12)
• International holiday with some additional
  (local) traditions
• Very special food sauerkraut, special kind of
  sausage (made of blood etc)

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Tradition and Youth threats and possibilities

• The United States of Europe what are the
  chances of Estonias traditions to survive?
• Young people are more into changes and new
  possibilities
• Computerizing world
• No one imagines MS Windows in Estonian kids
  speak copy and paste language in everyday life

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Thank you for your attention!

• This presentation is also available for
  downloading via Internet
• www.local.ee/tr/iynf.html