Kokle player Laima Jansone appears at the Baltics' largest folk festival in Viljandi
Latvian kokle player Laima Jansone was among this year's guests at the Viljandi folk festival in southern Estonia, performing through a collaboration with Estonian singer Mari Kalkun.
Viljandi is a small medieval town in southern Estonia that has hosted the largest folk music festival in the Baltics on the last weekend of July for 33 years running. Among this year's guests was Latvian kokle player Laima Jansone.
Jansone took part in the festival through a collaboration she has built with Estonian singer Mari Kalkun. The two musicians work together on a joint musical project that brings together elements of Latvian and Estonian traditional music.
A long-running festival with regional significance
For more than three decades, the Viljandi folk festival has drawn folk music enthusiasts from across the Baltics and beyond. Held annually on the last weekend of July, it has become one of the region's most significant folk music events.
Collaborations between Latvian and Estonian musicians, such as the joint work of Jansone and Kalkun, reflect the close cultural ties between the two neighbouring countries. Traditional stringed instruments — the kokle in Latvia and its Estonian relative, the kannel — continue to hold an important place in both nations' musical heritage and are showcased at international folk music events such as the Viljandi festival.
