Mooste Elohelü marks 20th festival with 11-band contest

Mooste Elohelü has helped launch many folk artists, with nearly every active Estonian folk band having performed at the small festival, its organiser Tuuli Metsoja told ERR’s Vikerraadio.

This year, 11 ensembles will take part in the festival’s legendary competition programme. All will play the same melody, but their different line-ups and arrangements will produce 11 distinct interpretations. The competition song comes from the Karula parish, and the bands can choose from different sets of lyrics.

The festival’s main programme features Duo Ruut with the Estonian National Male Choir, Keelepeksjad and Mando Trio. Duo Ruut and the choir created their joint programme during the previous concert season, but it has not yet reached southern Estonia.

Duo Ruut has performed and competed at the Mooste festival several times, winning on many occasions. Other Estonian folk groups to have appeared at the festival include Zetod and Paabel. Irish, Danish and American musicians have also taken part over the years, while Latvian performers will compete this year.

The festival is being held in Mooste for the 20th time after seven editions in Põlva. Under the leadership of Needo Ülo, the Mooste manor ensemble was restored and rebuilt. The Mooste Folgikoda, a concert venue in a former manor cowshed, hosts events throughout the year.

Audience favourites include 20-minute performances that begin in the morning. Concerts are spread across the manor grounds, including stages called Linajaama Angaar and Silotorni Leelolava. Metsoja said the organisers try to make use of Mooste’s distinctive locations and find something new each year.

The festival opens with a workshop led by Keelepeksjad. Musicians can learn and play a song together, and may later join the performers on stage, creating a large orchestra for part of the concert. Metsoja said the workshops can give young musicians the opportunity to play alongside experienced and legendary performers.