Village of Light

For reasons which shall not be named here, we can assure you that turning on your inner light, reconnecting with your soul bird and taking a break from your thoughts is more important than ever this Christmas.

With this in mind, we recommend heading to Town Hall Square as the season of Advent settles in. Let’s take our warmest winter coats and cosiest jackets out for a walk and meet up in the Village of Light. We can wait for the snow to arrive and sit on the slowly drifting park bench merry-go-round to write down our wishes (or take out the letter prepared in advance at home) for the soul bird, who, lucky for us all, has made its nest on Tartu Town Hall Square this year.

The Village of Light in the centre of Tartu welcomes you to a cosy outdoor area dotted with glass pavilions, bonfires and the chance to see the people you love (while socially distanced, of course). The Village of Light includes spinning wooden animal merry-go-rounds for children, and those of all ages waiting for Father Christmas can have fun on swings. You can even step into some of the glass pavilions. Be it for picking up some gingerbread, waffles and hot tea and having a little sit down, putting your feet up in the straw pavilion, taking a look at the film programme, studying the important wishes written down for the world in the magical forest pavilion or rooting for the hatching process. Take a ride in the sleigh with your whole family or hop on a pony (provided you are under eight 🙃). Every now and then you can feast your eyes on a fire dance performance.
Vanemuine Theatre and the Estonian National Museum also send their holiday wishes by being present with their own glass pavilions at Town Hall Square over Christmas.

Let us not forget that, this year, you can come ice skating on the Town Hall Square until end February. The ice rink around the Kissing Students fountain is nearly 1000 square metres in size and open from the First Sunday of Advent. Now you can skate – which happens to be one of the most romantic and fun form of wintry pastime in the world – right under the stars and light chains covering the sky of the most important square of Tartu.