Tallinn Music Week kids’ festival was organized by the members of VIVITA — aged 9–15

8 min readJan 27, 2022

The children’s program of Tallinn Music Week 2021 took place on October 2 in VIVISTOP Telliskivi. We have been part of the TMW children’s program for three years, but this year the children’s festival grew out of the children’s program!

The team of TMW kids’ festival. Photo: *Hande Yetkin*

“The TMW children’s program was held for the 5th time this year and it was different in its preparation and end result. However, the TMW team was very pleased with this year’s cooperation, because the TMW kids’ festival was just the way the young people would like it!” — Terje Trochynskyi, head of TMW’s kids’ program.

We started preparations already in July, when Terje, the director of the TMW kids’ program, and Pärtel, the festival director, and VIVITA brought together all 9–15-year-olds who love music and are interested in organizing events. By the end of the first meeting, it was clear that only workshops were not enough in the TMW children’s program, but the children also wanted their own mini-festival within the festival week.

The first meeting in July. Photo: VIVITA Estonia

“If the TMW program team had previously figured out which artists could be inspiring for the children and which activities they would like to do, then this time all the input came from the children themselves.” — Terje Trochynskyi, head of the children’s program.

VIVITA Social Club

VIVITA Social Club is a series of workshops that started in February 2021 and aims to increase the sense of community and the ability to work in a team among the children. While VIVITA members are usually involved in the design, construction and finishing of their individual projects during the Free Flow, then in the case of Social Club projects, each VIVITA member can jump on board and pursue a common goal together with the team. This time the team grew up to 15 members during the project and worked together from the end of July to the beginning of October, when the first TMW Kids X VIVITA children’s festival in history took place.

TMW Kids X VIVITA kids’ festival. Mini stage. Photos: *Hande Yetkin*

The story of Tallinn Music Week

TMW, which has been taking place in Tallinn since 2009, is known as one of the most diverse and bold music talent festivals in Europe, as a result of which many Estonian and foreign musicians have gained international attention and opportunities. The performers of the festival are carefully selected by the program team of the TMW Music Festival, which includes representatives of both Estonian and international music organizations and experts in various genres.

Mentor meetings with the TMW team

In September, experts from Tallinn Music Week visited VIVISTOP Telliskivi, sharing their experiences and giving children advice on what to keep in mind when planning a festi.

“Roman Demchenko, head of TMW’s music program, gave advice on how to plan the festival, which makes the festival a good event, what to keep in mind when writing the program, how to communicate with artists, technical and security issues. In terms of marketing and advertising, the young people were supervised by Gerda Merivee, Marketing Manager, and Eva Johanna Lepikov, Social Media Manager. Terje Trochynskyi, the TMW leader of the children’s program, and Pärtel Soosalu, the festival director, helped with advice and strength during the preparations.”

Mentor meetings with the TMW team. Photos: VIVITA Estonia

TMW Kids X VIVITA kids’ festival

Kui kõik teadmised said paberile, oli aeg õpitut päriselus rakendama asuda. Noored jagasid vastutusalad valdkonniti omavahel ära, kattes kõik teemad alates reklaamist, festivaliala kujundusest, partneritest kuni reaalse tehnilise teostuseni. Lastefestivali programm sai esialgselt oodatust väga palju vingem! Esimesena astus lavale TMW artist Around The Sun, kes äratas oma energiaga kõik loovuslabori külalised üles ja pani nad tantsima. Järgmisena astusid lavale Minilava artistid ning pole kahtlustki, et TMW nädala kõige nunnum lava oli just lastefestivalil. Lavapausi ajal oli huvilistel võimalus osaleda sai DJ-töötoas või Mondo näitusel “Muusikalised seinad”. Festivalialal oli avatud väike pop-up La Muu jäätiselett, fotosein ning Wise & Shine glitter-meigi särabaar. Viimase esinejana astus lavale Rahel, kes peale oma live-i arutles laval koos VIVITA liikme Emma Anettega muusiku teekonna ja paljude muude huvitavate teemade üle.

When all the knowledge was on paper, it was time to implement the knowledge in real life. The young people divided their responsibilities to different areas, covering all topics from advertising, the design of the festival area, partners to the actual technical implementation. The program of the children’s festival was much cooler than initially expected! TMW artist Around The Sun was the first to take the stage, waking up all the guests of the creativity lab and making them dance in the VIVISTOP studio. The artists of the Mini Stage next took the stage, and there is no doubt that the most beautiful stage of the week at TMW was at the children’s festival. During the stage break, those interested had the opportunity to participate in a DJ workshop or in Mondo’s exhibition “Musical Walls”. A small La Muu ice cream pop-up, a photo wall and a Wise & Shine glitter make-up bar were open in the festival area. The last performer was Rahel, who, after her live, discussed the musician’s journey and many other interesting topics with VIVITA member Emma Anette.

TMW Kids X VIVITA kids’ festival. Photo: VIVITA Estonia, *Milla-Esta Koitmaa, Hande Yetkin*

As incredible as it isn’t, the whole festival was organized by the Social Club members from the beginning! On the day of the festival, no VIVITA member was a child anymore, but in an instant they became experienced festival organizers. All without exception were focused, businesslike, organized and excellent communicators.

Marta Johanna communicated with the artists and wrote the invitations to the artists. She communicated with Rahel both by letter and by telephone. On the day of the festival, TMW artists received and introduction both by Marta Johanna and Emma Anette, the girls showed where the backstage is, let the artists know when the stage rehearsal could be done and when the artist needs to be stage-ready.
The design of the festival area took place in a larger team, which included Stella, Emili Mai, Emma Linda and Marta Elise. The girls’ cooperation worked great and the atmosphere of the whole festival day was magical — the stage design was set up, signs were designed for the dressing rooms, even home decorations and LED lamps were brought to create the cozy mood, and carpets were placed on the floor to make the room even more cozy.
Emma Anette was responsible for the overall production. She kept an eye on every little detail in both advertising and studio design. Emma Anette’s wish was that there would be only one colour and style of chairs on stage. She noticed that there was a lack of background music during the festival, and together with Gerda, TMW’s marketing manager, they designed the advertising material for the children’s festival. Elli and Krõõt also helped Emma Anette, and together they prepared the registration forms in Fienta, a Facebook event and the DJ workshop and Mini Stage.

“It was so great to see the invitation sent to artists and to see how skillfully the unique visual elements of the children’s festival were born from the existing design elements.” — Terje, TMW children’s program manager

Krõõt joined the team the latest, but she was still a quick responder and helped the whole team as much as possible. She also took care of the team on the day of the festival —she lead everybody to the team room and made sure that the room looked presentable.
Linda, Emma Charlotte, Marta Elise, Anna and Suvi were involved in communication, partners and marketing. The girls’ team did an excellent job. They created posts for the Facebook event, and we also introduced TikTok as a new channel. Linda was very consistent in finding a caterer. Foodtruck was not found for the children’s festival this time, but visitors had the opportunity to buy La Muu x NOEP ice cream! Anna started communicating with Wise & Shine leaders right away after the mentoring meetings, because a festival without bright makeup is not the right festival.
Linda, Emili Mai and Emma Charlotte took on a very important and responsible task on the festival day. They were the first people the visitors saw and interacted with. They were also responsible for making sure everyone was healthy when they entered the festival.

TMW Kids X VIVITA kids’ festival. Photos: *Hande Yetkin, Milla-Esta Koitmaa*

“Being part of a team of 8–15 year olds is something extremely fierce. They are not afraid to be wrong, they jumped into the water in an unknown place and only found the best solutions to make the children’s festival experience a ten out of ten! They don’t go to the same class and not even the same school, but they did a great job working together. “ — Steveli Säde, VIVITA children’s tutor