History of the the Estonian Festival in Australia
 Estonians have been holding “Eesti Päevad” (Estonian Days) festivals since 1954. The first Festival was in Sydney and since then the Festivals have been held every 2-3 years in turn in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. The current Festival will be the 7th held in Melbourne. In 1988 Melbourne hosted ESTO 88, a world-wide Estonian festival.
The Festivals have a core component of song, dance, theatre and arts and crafts and in the early days were held in conjunction with “Eesti Mängud” the Estonian sports festivals. The heyday of the Festivals and the Games was in the 1960s and the 1970s. Hundreds of singers and dancers participated in the festivals and interstate rivalry in volleyball and basketball was strong.
 Over the years, as the older generation has dwindled, the language skills of the Estonian community have diminished. Music, dance and art need no language whereas theatre and lectures do. Singing and folk dancing remain popular and at this Festival we have dancers from three generations.
The Festival Committee welcomes the participation of Australians of Estonian heritage who are no longer fluent in the Estonian language. It is time to broaden the program to allow greater participation by the local community, be they of Estonian descent or not
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