First Kodavere song festival aims to revive Estonian dialect
Estonia has a rich culture of singing, with its song festivals (along with Latvia and Lithuania) added to UNESCO’s register of intangible cultural heritage. One Estonian village, though, was home to a world first at the weekend – the first ever song festival dedicated to eastern Estonia’s Kodavere dialect. The village of Pala, just a few minutes from the shores of Lake Peipus – across which you can see Russia – played host on Sunday to the Kodavere laalupido song festival, dedicated to reviving the endangered language. According to the Estonian Folk Culture Centre, a mere couple of hundred peo...