Held each spring in Tallinn, Estonia since 2009, Tallinn Music Week (TMW) is a weeklong celebration of talent, curiosity, creativity, freedom and equality.
Having started out as a music industry conference and showcase festival, TMW has broadened its concept further into an all-encompassing city festival, covering arts, design, technology, city space, food culture and various societal issues.
Already in its 10th year, TMW is one of the most acclaimed city festivals and new economy conferences – a major meeting points for Eastern, Western and Central European creative communities.
In 2018 TMW will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The core of the jubilee edition is music festival with around 250 artists from different genres from all over the world, and an entrepreneurial conference focusing on the impact of creativity.
Music Festival 5-7 April 2018
TMW’s 3-day music festival presents brave new sounds from all over Europe and beyond in Tallinn’s best concert venues. Around 250 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
Creative Impact Conference 6-7 Apr 2018
TMW conference focuses on the future of music, new economy, civic initiative, gender politics, better cities and design thinking. The event will present over 100 speakers from gamechanging entrepreneurs to influential pop culture auteurs.
Creativity as a driving force in new economy and innovation will form the framework of the conference. Among other burning issues we will examine the interplay of culture, city planning and design thinking, hold debates around the role of public space and social inclusion, and trace the state of gender politics.
Conference opening speech will be held by President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid.
More about TMW Creative Impact Conference
TMW city festival also offers free city stage concerts, public discussions TMW Talks, a selection of the nicest eateries as TMW Tastes, a specially curated arts programme, Design Market and various activities in the public space.
TMW 2018 is presented by Telia. TMW 2018 partners are the Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian Enterprise and Nordic Hotel Forum.
TMW 2018 topics
• Holistic approach to society development with creativity as a driving force
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Innovation, future industries and skills
• Strong communities, activism and an integrated society
• Equal opportunities and diversity, special needs
• People-driven cities and neighbourhoods
• Design thinking for human-centered solutions
• Youth and children
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
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
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)
TMW is our team’s way to do our part in building a better, happier, more creative, more considerate and caring society.
Tallinn Music Week is founded and run by Musiccase OÜ. The success of the festival is a joint effort of around 100 individuals, companies and organisations.
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