Estonia: The upcoming Pan-Finno-Ugric Day will highlight the importance of Finno-Ugric cultures in the European cultural space

NordenBladet — On Saturday, October 17^th, Pan-Finno-Ugric Day, which is one of the most important yearly cultural events of the Finno-Ugric peoples, will be celebrated. In a message sent to the Ministers of Culture of the kindred nations, Minister of Culture Tõnis Lukas emphasised the importance of the Finno-Ugric languages and cultures in the European cultural space.

‘The Pan-Finno-Ugric Day is the most prominent symbols of cultural cooperation between the three Finno-Ugric countries of Estonia, Finland and Hungary. It highlights the unique nature of the Finno-Ugric languages and the importance of Finno-Ugric culture in Europe’s rich cultural space. And it also points out the importance and value of the cultures of small nations in the wide world,’ the Estonian Minister of Culture said in his message to Annika Saarikko, the Finnish Minister of Science and Culture and Prof. Dr. Miklós Kásler, the Minister of Human Resources.

Lukas also invited his Finnish and Hungarian colleagues to the 8^th World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples that will take place in Estonia next year. The event will take place at the Estonian National Museum in Tartu from the 16^th to the 18^th of June 2021. The theme of the congress will be Cultural Landscapes – Language and Mind.

This year, the events that are centred around Saturday’s Finno-Ugric Day are dedicated to the Year of Digital Culture, and therefore, many events will be available via webcasts. The main events of the Finno-Ugric Day will be conferences at the Estonian National Library and Narva College starting on Friday, October 16th, where, among other things, issues related to the teaching the languages of kindred peoples will be discussed along with the possibilities of utilising modern technology to achieve this. The main concerts of the Finno-Ugric Days will take place at the Estonian National Museum on Saturday, 17 October and at the Theatre Centre Vaba Lava on Sunday, 18 October. There will also be an additional programme of concerts, exhibitions, poetry evenings, radio and TV shows, and films. A number of thematic films and programs will also be broadcast on Estonian National Broadcasting’s Jupiter portal, and webcasts and other events will be available on the Fenno-Ugria NGO website.

Based on a decision of the 4^th Finno-Ugric Cultural Congress in 1931, Finno-Ugric Days are held annually throughout the Finno-Ugric world on the third weekend of October. Since 2011, Finno-Ugric Day has been a day of national importance in Estonia. The Fenno-Ugria NGO is the main organiser of the Finno-Ugric Days in Estonia.

Source: Ministry of Culture – Republic of Estonia