Much fun and many activities take place on every 29 June in Tartu – the City Day is turning into an easy to navigate mini-festival of opera and other beautiful, occasionally a bit unusual forms and crossovers of classical music.

On 29 June opera and soloists will once again have a blast in the city centre! This summer, as they take to the city, much loved Estonian actors will join them to make opera cross over into concerts and performances that will force different genres to melt together beautifully and make people think twice before writing off any type of music out of being unaccustomed to it…

Also featuring: the ever lovely Tartu City Writer, a medieval barge, experts, virtuosos, maestros, kickbikes and suchlike.

The final great crossover concert of City Day that will take place on Town Hall Square well deserves a separate mention. Opera soloists, actors, pianists, Tartu University Symphony Orchestra, summertime Tartu and much loved arias – the real treats – will all team up for the final symbioses of the day at 9 p.m.

On City Day traces of Tartu are being brought to you by musicians, well-orchestrated concerts, tours, storytellers, locals and guests alike, as well as by otherwise closed doors that open up that day to invite you in. The city`s museums, cafés, libraries and churches will happily share some of the responsibility for organising the fun and educational activities of the day.

Since 2003 Tartu has celebrated its City Day on 29 June, which in the traditional folk calendar is called the Day of Peter (and Paul), in reference to the Christian apostles who are deemed protectors of the city. In the Middle Ages they were the patron saints of Tartu and their key and sword are depicted on the city’s coat of arms. In a fashion similar to many other European cities, Tartu provides a cultural and entertainment programme on City Day.