Tallinn Music Week reveals a showcase programme for the upcoming festival. 2-day flash sale until midnight tomorrow
Photo: Dārta Urbanoviča
The international music and city festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW)is shaping up for its 18th edition that takes place in the capital of Estonia, Tallinn from 9th to 12th April 2026. As of today, the festival’s showcase programme is public and a flash sale has begun.
A limited number of showcase tickets are available via Piletileviat a special 40% off price until midnight on Thursday, 11th December.
The TMW 2026 music festival will take place from 9th to 11th April across Tallinn’s concert halls and clubs, from Telliskivi Creative City to St John’s Church in Freedom Square, offering an overview of what’s fresh and vital in new music from Estonia and beyond. Thirty showcase nights will present a cross-genre programme spanning pop and rock in their various guises, jazz, contemporary and choral music, Finno-Ugric heritage and global digipop hybrids. The programme includes dedicated country showcases from Sweden, Finland and Canada, as well as a spotlight on the African diaspora, with nights curated by leading music festivals and grassroots event organisers alike. See the entire programme.
The showcase nights are curated by long-standing TMW partners alongside several new collaborators. Making their debut at the capital’s flagship festival are I Land Sound, an immersive festival from the idyllic Illiku islet off Estonia’s Saaremaa island, renowned for its forward-looking sustainability approach; hip-hop FM station Legendaarne Raadio; and Glitch Please, an experimental electronic music label and artist collective. Management and publishing company Tier Music will also make its curatorial debut, marking its tenth year of operations. Meanwhile, the Finnish export office Music Finland brings to Tallinn a promisingly titled event: WTF – Welcome to Finland.
Finland’s presence at TMW extends beyond Music Finland, with the northern neighbours also returning with dark music festival Blowup’s showcase. Sounds of the Cities night, which launched at TMW last year under the leadership of Tallinn UNESCO City of Music, joins forces with international platform Music Cities Network. Also back for a second year are Roots Session with American legacy music, hottest domestic label Kurvad Uudised alongside the largest indie distributor in the Nordics, Playground Music, and Swedish new talent platform Talentcoach with its ÅÄÖ…Sounds Swedish night.
Works by Estonian composers will be presented in collaboration with Estonian Music Days. Sound art event series Üle Heli returns to seek out and introduce new sonic dimensions in collaboration with Latvian music and art festival Skaņu Mežs, whilst local label Made in Baltics also makes its comeback after several years with a curated artist selection.
The beloved Made in Canada showcase night once again brings rising artists from the land of the Maple Leaf to TMW, whilst Europe’s leading contemporary music showcase Classical:NEXT presents bold new voices redefining the classical form. Musical dissidents and independent spirits take the stage at Dutch agency Yugofuturism’s Vikendica night, showcasing restless souls blazing trails from Central and Eastern Europe to the Balkans, alongside regional grassroots network Cindy & Kate presenting their Baltic favourites.
The Estonian Choral Association brings experimental vocal music to the festival, the Jazz Union features two stages in the programme, and the Heavy Music Association treats the audience to both a showcase night and the fiery final of band competition Heavy Music Band Battle.
The Fenno-Ugrian Society showcases Finno-Ugric artists—from Sámi to Udmurts and beyond—at TMW, ensemble OOPUS presents folktronica acts from around the world, and Africa NOW! highlights talent from the African diaspora. The programme includes showcase nights from both Viljandi Folk Music Festival and Võnge Festival, the popular Estonian Funk Embassy party, Paavli Culture Factory’s trademark club and live music nights, and a queer-friendly club night Reivile Minuga.
The lineup of performers will be announced in January 2026. A record-breaking number of 2,198 musicians from 106 countries, from Europe to North and South America, and from Central and Southeast Asia to the Middle East, Africa and Oceania, applied to perform at the upcoming TMW festival. Approximately 175 artists will be confirmed for the programme, half of them from Estonia.
A limited number of showcase tickets are available at Piletilevi at a special 40% off price until midnight on Thursday, 11th December.
Music festival passes and PRO passes that provide access to both the music festival and conference are on sale via TMW webshop.
The TMW festival is organised by Muusikanädal NGO and Shiftworks in collaboration with various programme partners and co-curators. TMW’s strategic partner in the field of music is Music Estonia.
TMW 2026 Estonian curators: Damn.Loud, Estonian Choral Association, Estonian Music Days, Estonian Heavy Music Association, Fenno-Ugrian Society, Funk Embassy, Glitch Please, I Land Sound, Jazz Union, Kurvad Uudised, Legendaarne Raadio, OOPUS, Paavli Culture Factory, Reivile Minuga, Roots Session, Tier Music, UNESCO City of Music Tallinn, Viljandi Folk Music Festival, Võnge Festival, Üle Heli Festival
International curators: Blowup, Cindy & Kate, Classical:NEXT, LONA Musik, Music Cities Network, Music Finland, Playground Music, Skaņu Mežs, Yugofuturism, Talentcoach in collaboration with Icons Creating Evil Art, MTA Production, BD Pop and Sensus; The Women in Music Canada in collaboration with Estonian Music Week and VEMU museum.
TMW is a co-founder of The Federation of International Music Conferences and Showcase Festivals (FoMC), a member of the European talent exchange programme ESNS Exchange, a partner festival of the international gender equality initiative Keychange and the European global music platform UPBEAT.
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TMW 2026 showcases
Thursday, 9th April
Classical:NEXT (Fotografiska Tallinn)
Fenno-Ugria Night (Telliskivi Green Hall)
WTF – Welcome To Finland (F-Hoone Black Hall)
Roots Session (Club of Different Rooms)
Night with Cindy & Kate (Uus Laine)
Paavli.LIVE (Paavli Culture Factory)
Metal Stage (D3)
Friday, 10th April
Jazz Stage Friday (Fotografiska Tallinn)
Viljandi Folk Music Festival Stage (Von Krahl)
Made in Canada (F-Hoone Black Hall)
Sounds of the Cities (Club of Different Rooms)
ÅÄÖ…Sounds Swedish (Uus Laine)
Blowup (Paavli Culture Factory, evening)
Reivile Minuga (Paavli Culture Factory, night)
Üle Heli x Skaņu Mežs (Telliskivi Green Hall)
kurvad uudised records x Playground Music (D3)
OOPUS presents: Folktronica (Club HALL)
Tier Kollektiv (Fonoteek)
Saturday, 11th April
Jazz Stage Saturday (Fotografiska Tallinn)
Funk Embassy (Von Krahl)
Vikendica (F-Hoone Black Hall)
Võnge Festival Stage (Club of Different Rooms)
Legendaarne Live (Uus Laine)
Africa NOW! (Paavli Culture Factory, evening)
Paavli.CLUB (Paavli Culture Factory, night)
Heavy Music Baltic Band Battle (Telliskivi Green Hall)
Made in Baltics (D3)
I Land Sound (Club HALL)
Glitch Please (Fonoteek)
Estonian Choral Association presents: Choral Concert (Fotografiska Tallinn, 2nd floor)
Estonian Music Days (St John’s Church, HALL, further information and tickets during December 2025)