The inhabitants of Estonia can hardly be called religious, but they carefully preserve national traditions - no doubt! In a small Baltic country, many rituals and habits have survived that appeared in a distant time, when people worshiped only pagan gods and nature. Today's Estonians are calm and reliable, friendly and hard-working, and a certain slowness does not in the least prevent them from being punctual and clearly fulfilling their promises and commitments. Estonian traditions are best studied in small towns during the holidays, when their inhabitants organize festivals and fairs, and noisy festivities last for many hours.
Song five-year plans
The popular Estonian tradition of organizing song festivals is relatively recent. The first event of this kind took place in 1869 in Tartu and since then every five years, now at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, an amazing festival is held, included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Various choral groups, brass and symphony orchestras gather thousands of grateful spectators in the open air, for whom the song festival is always a significant event. The dates of the festival are discussed separately each time, but this always takes place at the end of June or the beginning of July. The musical tradition of Estonia gathers dozens of groups at the Song Festival Grounds, and some of them involve up to twenty thousand people.
Business time
Estonians are known among their neighbors to be thorough, thorough and thrifty people. These qualities are also manifested in the character of the national cuisine, which is based on meat and vegetable dishes. Here ham and ham are amazingly smoked, aromatic sausages are prepared, potatoes are baked and jellied meat is cooked. In summer, the traditions of Estonia instruct its inhabitants to harvest mushrooms and berries, which they are happy to do with their whole families. As a result, the pantry of a real Estonian is always full of homemade jams, pickled mushrooms and other preparations that pleasantly enliven the table in the long winter.
Useful little things
- The inhabitants of Estonia behave with strangers in a very correct and even detached manner. You should not take this for a manifestation of indifference - after the first step towards the Estonian, he will respond with amazing cordiality and sincere attitude towards the guest.
- Estonians can make fun of everyone and sometimes their humor goes beyond political correctness. This behavior is consistent with the traditions of Estonia and it is not customary to take offense at the interlocutor here.
