Tartu City Events: Expressing the Ethnic and Historic Connections

Authors

  • Mare Kõiva Author
  • Andres Kuperjanov Author

Keywords:

city events, St John’s Eve, student traditions, agrarian festivals, invented traditions

Abstract

This article explores the ways that contemporary cultural events and festivals reflect and handle ethnic and historic connections, and how they have changed over time. The article investigates four types of events. The student customs analysed include the celebration of Walpurgis Night (April 30) within the framework of corporation culture and the celebration of the anniversary of the University of Tartu. St John’s Eve celebrations organized by the Estonian National Museum and the Estonian Agricultural Museum represent ethnic events. From agrarian festivals, the article presents the Viss or the Cow Day (selection of the prettiest cow) and the Animal Breeding Day. Celebration of the Hanseatic Days in July is a compound event focusing on handicraft, food, and culture of the Middle Ages. These are unifying events for the larger community, for people of all ages, and they also provide a distinctive identifier of a place – the city of Tartu.

Author Biographies

  • Mare Kõiva

    Mare Kõiva is Leading Researcher at the Department of Folkloristics of the Estonian
    Literary Museum, and Director of the Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies.
    She has published several monographs and edited various books (incl. co-edited
    Mission possible 2018, Balkan and Baltic Studies 2017), She has also written a wide
    range of articles and chapters on folk legends and beliefs, ethnomedicine and
    the ritual year. Her current research focuses on mythology and belief narratives,
    human-non-human relationships and incantations.

  • Andres Kuperjanov

    Andres Kuperjanov is Researcher at the Department of Folkloristics of the Estonian Literary Museum, and a member of the Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies. His research topics include Estonian folk  religion and ethnoastronomy, and information technology in the humanities. His publications include a monograph (in Estonian) Estonian Sky, chapters and articles on the ritual year, ethnocosmology, and aetiology. His current research focuses on belief narratives, tree lore and ethnoastronomy.

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Published

2024-12-31

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2024): THE RITUAL YEAR 13

Section

Articles