Today was another long day. We woke up to an amazing breakfast at our hotel in Tallinn, and then were given a few hours to explore the city before we left. Our first big surprise of the trip was when our bus pulled up to the hotel – there were 18 seats for a party of 25, two weeks of luggage, and 16 dress bags. However, we all discovered that we’re real life Tetris champions and made it work. Our drive to Voru was about four hours with a quick stop in the middle, and we made sure to get in tons of team bonding the whole way!

Voru is a gorgeous town situated in the middle of a forested part of Estonia known for its thousands of tiny lakes. We all keep saying that it feels like we’re in the Northern Woods, and never really left home! We’re staying in a hostel with two to four people per room and shared kitchenettes or TV rooms, so it’s a very cool and unique living situation for the week! After getting moved in, we went to dinner at the Festival’s eating commons. So far we’ve all had incredible food, and we’re looking forward to keeping it going!

This is the 21st Voru Folk Loor Festival, and we ended our evening at our first Festival event! On our way to the grounds, our guide gave us a little tour of Voru, which was founded in 1794 after the Russian Empire took control of Estonia from Sweden. We spent the night learning dances and songs from Estonia, Spain, and Turkey (via Norway), and took our turn teaching them the jig and the bonfire dance.

Tomorrow, we get to officially kick off the Festival! We have the opening procession, followed by a show. We’re all getting so excited and cannot wait to get going in the morning!

Stay tuned!

Quinlyn and Kayleigh