From September 7th to 10th, the music and city festival Station Narva took place for the sixth time in Narva, filling Estonia’s easternmost city with music, art, community gatherings, and events spanning various fields. Over four days, the festival attracted 4,032 visits.
The festival opened on Thursday, September 7th, at Narva Town Hall with a public discussion from the BAZAR series about the future of Narva’s cultural life. The discussion focused on the city’s cultural institutions and education, as well as its prospects for becoming a cultural capital. This was followed by a successful opening concert at Narva College, featuring singers Ott Lepland and INGA along with the Narva City Symphony Orchestra and a soul-funk band.
On Friday, September 8th, the Station Narva entrepreneurship day at the OBJEKT creative incubator focused on new technologies and creative activities in a just transition. The day was opened with welcoming words from Minister of Culture Heidy Purga, after which one of the festival’s performers, Ukrainian pop star Ivan Dorn, spoke in a public interview about supporting young people and the world-saving power of music.
Minister of Culture Heidy Purga compared Narva during the festival to a “central station” and a stopover for international and local culture. “Station Narva is an event where creators from various fields come together to share their talent and passion. [- – -] In Narva, we see the spirit of cultural diversity and collaboration – this city is proof of how culture can inspire and unite us,” she said.
Ivan Dorn remarked that Narva warmly welcomed him, reminding him of his hometown Slavutych in the Kyiv region, and offered advice to young creatives: “Whoever you are – writer, photographer, musician – each of you has something unique, and it is your own unique thoughts, experiences, and personality. Every individual is a creative entity, and even as a musician working in an existing genre, your interpretation of it is still unique.”
This year’s Station Narva music program took place on September 8th and 9th at the Vaba Lava Narva Performing Arts Center and Club Ro-Ro. Among the 20 performers in the international music program, the most notable foreign artists were James Lavelle, founder of the British record label Mo’ Wax and the group UNKLE, the electronic dance music group Acid Arab, Finnish musician Jimi Tenor, and Ukrainian-born Ivan Dorn. Among the Estonian artists were YASMYN, Ajukaja and Mart Avi, manna, and Ida-Viru based IVI and Analogue Quattro.
The festival’s daytime city stage concerts at Joaoru beach house terrace, restaurant Valge Kõrvits, and Kulgu harbor were lively, with performances by the Dutch ska-rock band Bazzookas. The Narva Art Residency (NART) offered festival-goers lunches with Japanese artists Reico Motohara and Kabo, boat tours curated by NART’s Narva Venice Embassy initiative, and night-time art exhibitions at the Kreenholm Manufactory. The festival also featured the opening of the group exhibition “Young Unknown” by Ida-Viru artists curated by Sillamäe artist Eduard Zentsik, the Velo Narva bike tour, and guided tours by the Narva Museum at Kreenholm, Hermann Castle, and the Narva Museum Art Gallery. The event concluded with a Narva-style breakfast at the informal education center VitaTiim and the season closing party at the Kreenholm community garden.
