Day Twelve - Day one of Laulupidu
Saturday July 5th
The kids were able to spend some time with their host families for a majority of the morning, which was nice. Our scheduled meeting time was 1:30 at Freedom Plaza for the parade. When we rounded the corner, there were thousands of people, dancers, singers, musicians, all lined up, dressed in their traditional outfits, ready to march the 3 miles from Freedom Square to the dome. It was beautiful.
The three mile stretch was completely lined with people on both sides of the street. Others were hanging out their apartment windows, cheering as we went by. The whole experience was completely overwhelming. The crowd was so excited to see us, treating us almost like celebrities from our debut of "To Breathe as One." Rebekah and Bailey described walking in the parade as, "The most special experience in the world. A woman came up to a few of us and told us that our Estonian was so good that we are now Estonians! We are one with them now!"
Nora described the experience as "if she was floating. I didn't even notice how long the parade was! When we got to lunch, filled with ice cream and millions of yogurt cartons, I finally noticed how much my heels hurt and how hot it was. This feeling continued throughout the afternoon until we got on stage. In the moment when we all started to sing Koit, I felt so privileged to be part of all of this and once again, I felt like I was floating because I had butterflies and I was so happy. After we finished singing, I loved hearing ETV choir sing while watching the sun set over the dome. That night after a day filled with flower crowns, singing, and ice cream consumption, I fell asleep after one second with my eyes closed."
Kay said that "the whole day was an indescribable experience. It reminded me of how amazingly lucky I am to be welcomed into this unique sort of celebration. The concept of 100,000 people all in one place for the same reason is very hard to take in. The amount of power and emotion in every single one of the people's hearts and voices is contagious. It's one of the most beautiful things in the world."
We were one of the first groups to arrive to the festival grounds. The kids found their spot under the trees and left their back packs and went to have lunch. Some more soup, yogurt, and ice cream this time. They were quite satisfied.
After lunch, the kids had some time to do some more shopping, for the parade was still going on! It took until 7:45 before all the groups were on the grounds. Thousands of people everywhere! Something I have never experienced before in my life!
It was time for the official start of the two day festival. The participants were all under one dome, breathing as one, as the officials carried the torch up about 10 flights of stairs to light the main torch that will remain lit for the festival. It was almost like being a participant in the olympics.
The participants kept doing the "wave," which traveled through all 32,000 singers, as well as the whole audience, all the way to the back of the grounds. Then there was almost this silence that fell on the crowd, waiting for the conductor to wave his baton.
They sang a few songs, all together, which was quite fascinating. To hear all those voices singing together as one is amazing. All the kids felt this sense of pride and privilege as they were up there, realizing how lucky they are to be a part of something of this magnitude. They are looking forward to tomorrow's concert for sure!
Click through the sideshow below to view some highlights from today:
