Destination Stewardship Report – Volume 5, Issue 2

This post is from the Destination Stewardship Report, a publication that provides practical information and insights useful to anyone whose work or interests involve improving destination stewardship in a post-pandemic world.


The Tallinn Song Festival can top 125,000 attendees. (Photo courtesy of Kaupo Kalda)

Estonia Cleans Up Its Big Event

Another winner from the Top 100 – Every year, Green Destinations organizes the Top 100 Destination Sustainability Stories competition, which invites submissions from around the world – a vetted collection of stories spotlighting local and regional destinations that are making progress toward sustainable management of tourism and its impacts. As previously, we’ve selected two more stories from the winners, this one from Estonia, which demonstrates how to turn an enormous event environmentally outstanding. Synopsis by Ian Vorster. Top 100 submission by the Tourism Department of the Tallinn Strategic Management Office.

Tallinn’s Enormous Festival Defies the Throw-away Economy

A lunchtime crowd enjoy their meal with non-disposable cutlery and crockery. (Photo courtesy of Aivar Pihelgas)

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is a compact and multifaceted city on the Baltic Sea. The country has a population of just 1.4 million, boasts a captivating history, a rich cultural heritage, and breathtaking natural beauty. It consistently ranks high in international assessments for quality of life, education, freedom of the press, digitalization of public services, and technology.

Tallinn is home to many traditions crucial to the heritage of the Estonian nation. One of these, the Estonian Song Festival, rooted in a tradition going back to 1869, has endured periods of oppression. It is deeply connected to the broader Singing Revolution, which played an important role in the Baltic countries from Soviet occupation. Every two years, more than 125,000 people gather to celebrate their heritage through song. The festival was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Some 30,000 members of the choir make it one of the largest choral events in the world.

However, the environmental footprint of the event grew through the years until it was producing vast quantities of waste. To realign the tradition with sustainability, the Estonian Song and Dance Festival Foundation partnered with the City of Tallinn – the European Green Capital 2023 – to adopt a set environmentally friendly criteria, including compliance with Tallinn’s ban on single use plastics.

They achieved the goal by introducing sustainability partners, implementing new tools and practices, scaling up previously used systems of distribution, washing multiple-use dishes, and communicating the overall mission to every participant and spectator in the festival. The reusable tableware system alone kept over half a million pieces of single-use tableware from turning into more than 3.5 tons of plastic waste.