Tallinn Fringe Festival Returns with 180 Performances, Diverse Talent, and Unmatched Joy

From August 18 to September 18, the Tallinn Fringe Festival will take place across 17 cultural clubs and venues in Tallinn. Over five weeks, innovative short performances will feature burlesque, theater, comedy, music, magic, poetry, dance, and stand-up from both Estonian and international artists.

“Tallinn Fringe is one of the most exciting and engaging self-curated festival. There is no organising committee that decides what’s on the programme. Anyone who wants to perform can do so. It may sound a bit chaotic, but the common thread is self-reliance and the freedom to do exactly what you want,” says Fringe artist and festival arts advocate Kaisa Ling. “Additionally, many events follow a ‘pay what you want’ system, allowing accessibility to more people and the audience to support the artists as much as they can and feel like.”

The general programme features several Estonian artists, including Estonia’s top vaudeville blues singer Kaisa Ling, poet and choreographer Sveta Grigorjeva, Estonian comedy Barbie Sille-Kadri Simer, former journalist and new stand-up comedian Marian Võsumets, singing ballerina Triinu Upkin, the humorous and versatile Aleksandr Popov, and many others. The festival will also host internationally recognized artists Kaytlin Bailey, Richard Dale, and Matt Davis, who come directly from the world’s largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Fringe.

From August 23 to 25, Tallinn’s Town Hall Square will host pay-what-you-want street programme featuring world-renowned artists from Ireland: the revolutionary circus collective Tumble Circus, the duo Bill and Fred with their physical improvisation performance of elderly women, and clown Shiva Grigs with the clown show “Pigeon Chaser.”

The vaudeville-style theatre Heldeke! will host late-night cabaret shows on Tuesday and Friday evenings featuring blues diva Kaisa Ling (in english). These performances bring the festival’s top artists and the brightest stars of Estonian underground cabaret to the stage. In addition, Heldeke will showcase the festival’s coolest local and international comedians every Thursday (in Estonian) and Saturday (in English). The evenings will be hosted by comedian Ann Vaida.

The Tallinn Fringe Festival will take place at 16 venues across Tallinn: a-le-hopp! (Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava), Cabaret Volta, Heldeke!, Hungr, IMPEERIUM, Mouthy Comedy Pop-up, Paavli Kultuurivabrik, Philly Joe’s Jazz Club, Kidrakuur, Ratas & Kohv, Town Hall Square, Rüütel & Matilda English Bookshop, Rataskaevu Art 6 Gallery, House 10, Ruutu 10 Improvisation Center, and Winkel.

This year marks the eighth edition of the Tallinn Fringe Festival. The programme features over 180 performances, with more added daily. The festival is organised by Hoplaa MTÜ and Fringe Festival OÜ, with support from the City of Tallinn, the British Council, Culture Ireland, the Embassy of Ireland, and the Embassy of Australia. More information and tickets can be found on fringe.ee.