The 17th edition of TMW, the festival of “tomorrow’s music, arts and ideas” filled Tallinn with music from around the world, explored the evolving music industry and its societal significance, and offered to explore the music and arts scene of diverse neighbourhoods across the capital of Estonia.
TMW 2025 focus countries were Ukraine, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Taiwan and the Baltics.
The 3-day TMW music festival from 3rd to 5th April, featured 217 artists from 36 countries, from Europe to Canada and from African diaspora to Taiwan. The cross-genre programme ranged from folk to digipop, from jazz to metal, and from choral music to performance art. The festival also paid tribute to the preeminent Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, who celebrates his 90th jubilee this year. Showcase nights were promoted by, among others, Estonian festivals and music organisations Viljandi Folk Music Festival, Jazz Estonia, Fenno-Ugria Society, Heavy Music Association, Funk Embassy and Kurvad Uudised record label. International curators included, Europe’s leading classical music showcase festival Classical:NEXT, Swedish talent platform ÅÄÖ…Sounds Swedish, European Capital of Culture Oulu2026 in collaboration with Estonian club culture festival UNDA, nomadic platform Yugofuturism with event series Vikendica, and more.
TMW conference, held at Nordic Hotel Forum on 4th and 5th April, was attended by 1,300 music industry professionals from around the world. The conference featured over 160 professionals and trailblazers from the music and cultural sectors. Speakers included The Human League and Heaven 17 founding member Martyn Ware, Rammstein’s European promoter Scumeck Sabottka, Grammy-winning sound engineer Haydn Bendall, Finnish musician Kimmo Pohjonen, Director of A Greener Festival (AGF) Claire O’Neill, Managing Director of ESNS Anna van Nunen, Programme Director of the World Music Festival in Taiwan Peiti Huang, Estonian music industry legend Jüri Makarov, Member of the European Parliament Urmas Paet, Director of Live Nation Baltics Eva Palm, musicians Mari Kalkun, Karl Killing, David Reiterer from Lucy Dreams and others. The festival was attended by over 150 journalists, including from European public broadcasters, Euronews Culture, and music and general interest publications from The Guardian to Louder, Electronic Sound, Jazzwise and more
Several upcoming music industry events unveiled their future strategies at TMW, including Latvia’s Riga Music Week and Music Week Poland, both launching later this year, and WOMEX Tampere, returning to Finland for its second edition. Additionally, Oulu2026 marked its forthcoming European Capital of Culture designation in Finland through a collaborative showcase with Estonian club culture festival UNDA.
The TMW city festival guided visitors on journeys of discovery through Tallinn’s art and culinary scenes, public talks, kids’ and youth festivals and Record Fair, and offered tours to the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa.
TMW 2025 in numbers:
- 217 artists from 36 countries
- 163 conference speakers
- 1,297 PRO delegates / music industry representatives
- 28 music showcase events
- 18 814 festival visits
The next TMW festival is scheduled to take place from 9th-12th April 2026. .
Check out all the photos from Tallinn Music Week 2025!
