European cultural capitals 2011 promise Nordic cooperation

By Lennart Simonsson and Mike Collier Dec 28, 2010, 17:50 GMT

Tallinn/Turku - When the bells in the spires of Tallinn's medieval Old Town ring in the new year, the Estonian capital will be marking a double celebration.

As well as becoming the 17th member of the eurozone, Tallinn takes the title of European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with the Finnish city of Turku located less than 200km away on the other side of the Gulf of Finland.

The opening ceremony includes the obligatory fireworks display plus performances by legendary folk band Kukerpillid and rocker Tanel Padar.

'We are expecting special guests from far away, so it is worth heading to Theatre Square that night,' says Jaanus Rohumaa, the artistic director of the opening ceremony. In the square, giant screens will show a number of events happening around Tallinn, all broadcast on national television.

Two separate fireworks displays will launch the year of culture: one in the city centre and another over the Bay of Tallinn.

'The epicentre of the party is the Theatre Square but this is the night to party for the whole town. The first seaside story of our seashore Capital of Culture will be told 200 meters above the Bay of Tallinn,' says Rohumaa.

The last time a Baltic capital was a European capital of culture it was judged to be a disappointment.

In 2009 the Lithuanian capital Vilnius shared the honour with Graz in Austria but its year in the spotlight coincided with a global economic crisis that was felt particularly keenly in the Baltic states. Funding was slashed, staff were laid off and the collapse of the national airline even left orchestras stranded.

However, organizers of Tallinn 2011 are confident they can avoid a repeat of the Vilnius disaster even though funding has been pruned back from original estimates to a modest 16 million euros (21 million dollars).

'We have had time to adjust ourselves to smaller budgets over the last years and have been able to find additional finances for many projects from external sources,' says Tallinn 2011's Maris Hellrand.

Hopes are also high that thanks to their geographical proximity and cultural and ethnic affinity - Estonian and Finnish are closely related Finno-Ugric languages - Tallinn and Turku can provide a model of how twinned capital of culture cities can cooperate rather than compete.

'There is cooperation in tourism development and some travel agencies are packaging events in both capitals of culture for tours. We have very good and consistent cooperation with the Turku 2011 team,' says Hellrand.

The feeling is the same in Turku. 'We have about a dozen larger joint culture projects with Tallinn,' says Cay Sevón, chief executive of the Turku 2011 Foundation which is using January 15-16 as its main launch date so that people will be able to enjoy both Tallinn and Turku.

In an interesting move, Turku aims to highlight the beneficial role culture has on health and well-being. The foundation has even given 5,400 tickets to local health authorities, enabling doctors to 'prescribe a visit to a cultural event' in addition to conventional medicines, Sevón says.

Estimates of the economic impact of the capital of culture phenomenon vary. Organizers in Turku hope the culture year activities will attract some 2 million visitors, boosting visitor statistics by 15 per cent, though that tally includes Turku residents.

In Tallinn the expectation is that 200,000 extra tourists will have a reason for prolonging their stays. National airline Estonian Air says a rise in passenger numbers is 'unquestionable' and could increase by more than 10 per cent.

Details of the full cultural itineraries of Tallinn and Turku are available at www.tallinn2011.ee and www.turku2011.fi.