Tallinn-Narva Music Week won the Tourism Product of the Year Award at the Estonian Tourism Conference

On Thursday, 29 September, the the winners of the Tourism Act 2022 competition were awarded at the opening event of the Tourism Conference 2022 in Vaba Lava Narva. Tallinn-Narva Music Week won the Best Tourism Product Award, being the first cultural event to win this category.

Tallinn-Narva Music Week 2022  won the award for the unifying message “Let’s be together”, great teamwork, high-level cultural program, community involvement and for opportunities to establish new shared traditions, turning a difficult challenge into a reality that moved thousands.

“On the 24 of February we were a week away from announcing our festival programme, but suddenly everything changed,” comments the Head of Tallinn-Narva Music Week Helen Sildna. “We realised that considering the severity of the situation, we as an international festival must react. Relying on our long-term collaboration with the Russian-speaking communities and a strong joint team of Tallinn and Narva, we decided to organise half of this year’s Tallinn Music Week on the Eastern border of the EU. That is how the first and unique Tallinn-Narva Music Week was born. We managed to boost the region’s tourism and culture sectors during a critical time, support Ukrainians and while the whole of Estonia was worried about the mood on 9 May, we got together with the residents of Narva to celebrate Mother’s Day and plant 15 new trees in the EV100 park.”

According to Liina Maria Lepik, member of the board at Enterprise Estonia (EAS) and Kredex, the impact of the event was greater than that of an ordinary festival. “Tallinn-Narva Music Week invited thousands of people from all over Estonia to Narva, brought top national stars to perform there for the first time and involved the local community,” says Lepik. “The festival proved that Europe begins in Narva. It was a strong and very necessary message both in Estonia and beyond at a time when increased attention was given to the Estonian security in the international media and many tourists hesitated to travel here. We showed that it is safe enough to organise an international music festival in the border town.”

The international music and city festival that took place for the first time both in the Estonian capital Tallinn and the border city Narva. A unique cross-country experience celebrated collaboration and solidarity, hosting 192 artists from 28 countries and 974 music and culture industry professionals from all over the world. The event drew 17,000 visits: 10,735 in Tallinn and 6,904 in Narva, spreading the message that Estonian Eastern border is safe.