Held each spring in Tallinn, Estonia since 2009, Tallinn Music Week (TMW) is a weeklong celebration of talent, curiosity, creativity, freedom and equality.
TMW’s core is the new music festival and Creative Impact conference. The festival’s side events cover arts, design, city space, food culture and various societal issues.
Already in its 11th year, TMW is one of the most acclaimed city festivals and new economy conferences in Europe – a major meeting points for Eastern, Western and Central European creative communities.
Music Festival 28 – 30 March 2019
TMW’s 3-day music festival presents brave new sounds from all over Europe and beyond in Tallinn’s best concert venues. Around 200 artists – from cult to pop, from bass to metal, from folk to classical music – meet an audience of around 30,000 people. More about TMW Music Festival
Conference 29 – 30 March 2019
This year’s TMW conference will look into the impact of arts as an engine for the economy and the functioning of an innovative society while offering inspiration to music professionals, art promoters, entrepreneurs and policy makers from different areas. More about TMW conference
City Festival 25 – 31 March 2019
Free city stage concerts, public discussions TMW Talks, a selection of the nicest eateries as TMW Tastes, and specially curated arts and design programme during the whole festival week. More about City programme.
TMW is presented by Telia Estonia, the festival’s main supporters are Nordic Hotel Forum and Enterprise Estonia, partners Music Estonia and Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA). TMW is supported by Ministry of Culture, Tallinn Culture Department and Estonian Cultural Endowment.
and many more.
Throughout the festival’s eight-year existence, the TMW conference has hosted numerous high-profile music industry experts and pop mavericks, including Seymour Stein, the founder of Sire Records,
influential managers Simon Napier-Bell, Petri Lunden, Marie Fredriksson, Edward Bicknell, and Peter Jenner; artists-turned authors like Viv Albertine (The Slits), John Robb (The Membranes), Bob Stanley (St Etienne), and acclaimed music critics like Simon Reynolds and Adam Harper. Since 2016 the TMW conference has expanded from music industry topics towards a wider social agenda, inviting speakers like the US-based entrepreneur and philanthropist Hamdi Ulukaya, artist and activist iO Tillett Wright, gene researcher Lili Milani, MEP Julia Reda, a business angel from Silicon Valley Fadi Bishara and many other visionaries from different areas.
TMW today is a perfect intro and a crash course to everything we love about Estonia and the city of Tallinn – the traditions mixed with contemporary edge, the ancient history, side by side with high-tech innovation.
“It is one of the most professionally run festivals of its kind, but with the convivial attitude of SXSW.“
– Nils Bernstein, Matador Records
Nils Bernstein, Matador Records
TMW has now grown into a vibrant city festival that educates and entertains the curious mind. The whole city is its playground.
The festival offers a rich menu of fresh international music in Tallinn’s finest venues, free pop-up concerts, pub-quiz style chatter and culinary delights within its programmes: City Stage, Talks, Arts, Tastes and Urban Space.
Seymour Stein and President Toomas Hendrik Ilves at TMW2013
“Tallinn Music Week is always opened by Estonia’s rock-digging president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who has been known to quote PJ Harvey and Jello Biafra in his annual festival speech.“
– The Guardian, 2014
The Guardian, 2014
262 artists from 31 countries
34 170 festival visitors
1330 delegates, incl. 870 foreigners
150 foreign journalists
83 festival venues
“Among our most important partnerships TMW represents exactly the values, energy and ambition we want to see flourishing in our society. We are proud to witness that TMW has become so much more than an exceptional music festival – it introduces new talent in various culture spheres and brings together creative people from all over the world, expanding the universe of each participant. Also, as a former symphonist and rock musician I have personal reasons to be especially fond of TMW.“
– Petri Nikkilä, Head of Nordea Bank Estonia (2014-2016)
Petri Nikkilä, Head of Nordea Bank Estonia (2014-2016)
Tallinn Music Week is founded and run by Shiftworks OÜ. The festival is a joint effort of around 100 individuals, companies and organizations.
“TMW is an amazing event. It has to be in the top 5 of European music events culturally, impact-wise and for the sheer volume of great ideas that use the city’s stunning heritage and old quarter and the nation’s forward-looking aesthetic perfectly. The ideas behind what TMW does culturally and politically make a real difference.“
– John Robb, Louder than War
John Robb, Louder than War