Roots Music: learning each other's traditions
Roots Music (EE-LV00222) is led by the Latvian NGO Skaņumāja ("House of Sounds") together with Estonian partner Amme Kannel NGO, running from 01.09.2025 to 31.08.2026. Over the course of the project, participants from Latvia and Estonia have been learning and deepening traditional instrument-playing skills together in mixed groups, guided by mentors and lecturers from both countries. The training combines practical instrument playing with lectures on traditional culture, aiming to build lasting cross-border ties between the amateur music groups and communities the participants represent.
The joint ensembles formed through the project will perform together for the first time at Wäägvere Wolk VII, on 4 July in Väägvere, Tartu County, organised by Amme Kannel.
Same, same, but different: shared heritage, new collaborations
Same, same, but different (EE-LV00245) is led by the NGO Valmiermuiža Association of Culture (Latvia) together with Estonian partner NGO Haki Sound, running from 01.07.2025 to 31.12.2026. The project connects two contemporary heritage festivals: Aigu Om! in Rõuge Parish and the Valmiermuiža Ethnomusic Festival, through festival exchanges, a musical residency, and craft workshops.
At the end of May, Estonian and Latvian musicians, multimedia artists and cultural organisers took part in a five-day residency at Rucka Manor in Cēsis. Latvian kokle player Laima Jansone and Estonian musician Mari Kalkun, working with multimedia artists Zane Zelmene and Piret Parrest, explored the similarities and differences between kannel and kokle playing techniques, developing a joint sound and visual programme with input from the local community. Craftspeople from Rõuge and Latvia also began working together during the residency, a collaboration that continues through cross-border workshops planned at both festivals in July.
The results will be showcased at Aigu Om! (15 to 17 July) and the Valmiermuiža Ethnomusic Festival (18 July), where the joint musical programme and craft workshops will be presented to festival audiences in both countries.
Why it matters
Both projects are funded under the Interreg VI-A Estonia-Latvia Programme 2021-2027, priority "More cooperating cross-border regions", specific objective 1.2: building mutual trust through people-to-people cooperation. The festivals are where the work becomes visible, but the real outcome is the network: musicians, artisans and organisers who now know each other's traditions, and each other, well enough to keep collaborating after the projects end.
