Tartu 2024 Grand Opening

We recommend coming on foot, by bicycle, or using public transport.

On 26 January the city bus lines are free of charge for everyone! Tartu 2024’s partner Lux Express will conveniently transport guests from both Estonian and international centres, and on top of that directly from the bus terminals of Tallinn and Riga airports. Purchase your ticket in advance, this way we can ensure that everyone arrives on time for the celebrations! Get a ticket: luxexpress.eu.

Bus tickets within Estonia: tpilet.ee

Train tickets within Estonia: elron.ee

Tartu’s public transportation schedules: peatus.ee 

Distances from the Tartu Town Hall Square to Tartu city centre:

Tartu Bus Station – 600 m

Tartu Railway Station – 1 400 m

Estonian National Museum – 2 400 m

Distances from the Estonian National Museum to Tartu city centre:

Tartu Bus Station – 2 800 m

Tartu Railway Station – 3 800 m

From 17-26 January, there will be traffic changes at Kaarsild, Vabaduse Puiestee, around Atlantis, and along the route from the Town Hall Square to the Estonian National Museum. Necessary information can be found on the home page of the city of Tartu.

The nearest bicycle parking spots to the Town Hall Square are located on Poe Street, Küüni Street, and in front of Tartu Kaubamaja. Parking spots can also be found at the A-entrance of the Estonian National Museum. More information regarding the Bike Share system can be found here.

Nearest bus stops to the Town Hall Square and celebrations by the Emajõgi

Kesklinn I-IV, in front and opposite of Tartu Kaubamaja (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 25)

Atlantis (lines 1, 2, 4, 8, 21, 22, 25)

Palmihoone (lines 6, 13)

Soola (lines 6, 7, 13)

Nearest bus stops to the Estonian National Museum

ERM (line 7)

Jänese (lines 8, 9, 21, 25, 735)

Orava (lines 8, 9, 25)

If You are coming by car, consider carpooling with family or friends. For information regarding Tartu’s parking fees and parking lots, visit the city’s official website. At ENM, the A-parking lot (temporarily closed on January 26th from 19:00 to 21:30), C-parking lot, and Tartu Lumepark’s parking lot are open as well.

The nearest accessible parking spaces to the Town Hall Square are located behind the Town Hall, on Magistri Street and near the Tartu Market Hall (map of the parking areas). Please be prepared to show your blue parking badge.

ERM has accessible parking spaces in the A-parking lot for those who possess a blue badge.  Access to the parking lot might be temporarily restricted during the procession.

A valid blue badge for people with disabilities guarantees free parking in Tartu’s paid parking zones. Please follow the parking rules when using private parking lots.

Accessibility

The opening ceremony takes place at the Town Hall Square and the banks of Emajõgi. There are limited seats, so you will be required to stand during the opening ceremony.

The accessible viewing platform for the opening ceremony can be accessed from the sidewalk of Vabaduse puiestee. Movement from the roadway to the sidewalk might be hindered by a high curbstone. The tribune has spots for wheelchairs and seating.

Read Estonian and English subtitles on your smartphone during the performance. The production includes Estonian, English, and Ukrainian languages. You can find the subtitles here.

Texts of the opening ceremony can be found here. The file for printing can be found here.

The nearest accessible toilets to the Town Hall Square are located at the Tartu Market Hall (Vabaduse puiestee 1), on the third floor of Tartu Kaubamaja (Riia 1), and paid accessible toilet in Tartu Central Park (the side of Küüni street). People with disabilities can also use the accessible toilet at ERM without needing a ticket (entrance A, ground floor).

The nearest accessible parking spaces to the Town Hall Square are located behind the Town Hall and near the Tartu Market Hall (map of the parking areas).

A valid blue badge for a person with a disability guarantees free parking in Tartu’s paid parking zones. Please follow the parking rules when using private parking lots.

As part of the procession from Vabaduse puiestee to the Estonian National Museum, participants can also ride the Släp! Sticker bus (a specially decorated Tartu city bus), starting at 20:30 from Vabaduse puiestee and moving along with the procession towards the Estonian National Museum. Priority is given to individuals with mobility challenges, the elderly, and children.

Wheelchair-accessible night buses will operate from 8 PM to 3 AM by the following routes: ERM–Annelinn–ERM and ERM–Lõunakeskus–ERM. More information can be found on Tartu City’s homepage.

Take a look at the Estonian National Museum’s page for visitors with disabilities.

☀ The event will take place outdoors, so dress in layers and wear a warm scarf, gloves and woollen socks.

☀ Depending on the weather, both driveways and sidewalks could be snowy and slippery. High sound levels and strobe lighting may be used.

☀ We recommend bringing personal assistance if needed.

☀ We recommend that children use hearing protection headphones.

☀ The nearest toilets with a changing table are located at the Tartu Market Hall (Vabaduse puiestee 1), on the third floor of Tartu Kaubamaja (Riia 1), and the paid toilet at Tartu Central Park.

Accessibility of the TV broadcast

The opening ceremony “All Becomes One!” will be broadcast on live television by the Estonian Public Broadcasting (Eesti Rahvusringhääling) starting at 7:00 PM. The broadcast will include audio description and sign language interpretation.

Good to know:

☀ Estonian audio description on ETV. To hear audio description during the broadcast, you’ll need to switch on the audio description channel for the visually impaired. The descriptions are provided by Krista Fatkin and Kai Kunder.

☀ The live broadcast with Estonian sign language interpretation can be viewed on the website jupiter.err.ee and the Jupiter TV application. The sign language interpreter is Keiti Verbu.

☀ Recordings with Estonian audio description and sign language interpretation can be accessed later on the website jupiter.err.ee and the Jupiter TV application.

☀ It’s possible to enable Estonian-language automatic subtitles from the channel settings. Real-time machine-generated subtitles are available to improve accessibility for those with impaired hearing. However, real-time subtitles won’t be displayed for songs.

Additional information on event accessibility:

Lee Saarsen, [email protected], +372 5667 2037

On-site assistance will be provided by Tartu 2024 volunteers.

European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 strives towards environmentally friendly cultural management – a quarter of Estonia will be organising events according to the same principles of sustainability.

☀  We reuse decorations and costumes at our events, purchasing as little new as possible. All the decorations will be reused at future events.

☀ For the opening celebrations, bring your own reusable cup. There will also be a Ringo cup system available on-site. These reusable cups can be returned to a designated collection point or a yellow Ringo container.

☀  We will be sorting the waste which will be produced at the event – general waste, organic waste, packaging, and containers. Please help us in this effort by following the instructions and taking action.

☀  Thank you for coming to the event on foot, by cycling, using public transport, or carpooling with family and friends.

On 26 January the city bus lines are free of charge for everyone!

The opening celebrations taking place on 26 January will cause several traffic changes at the city centre:

12.01–31.01 movement near the Atlantis building and on the corresponding riverbank will be limited.

18.01–29.01 on the side of Vabaduse puiestee, the section of the riverbank between the Tartu Market Hall and Kaarsild will be closed off to pedestrians. The river-side walkway will be closed off, while the park-side passage will remain open.

18.01–31.01 one side of Kaarsild will be closed off.

26.01 from 12.00 to 23.00 the section of Vabaduse puiestee from the Tartu Market Hall to Magistri street will be closed off to cars. The Magistri parking lot will remain open and can be accessed by approaching from the direction of the Freedom Bridge.

26.01 from 20.30 to 21.30 there will be brief traffic halts (10–15 minutes) along the stretch from Vene Circle to Puiestee Street and from Puiestee Street to Muuseumi Road. In case of the latter, the lane meant for traffic entering the city will remain open.

On 26 January the city bus lines are free of charge for everyone!

Additional buses operate for free during the Tartu 2024 afterparty at Estonian National Museum (ENM):

☀ 20-03, ENM-Lõunakeskus-ENM (24A, two buses)

☀ 20-03, ENM-Annelinn-ENM (24B, one bus)

☀ 22-03, ENM-city centre-ENM (24C, one sticker bus)

The lines operate on a free schedule with approximately 30-minute intervals. All buses depart from the inner parking lot of ENM (in front of the A entrance).

24A I ENM–Lõunakeskus–ENM I 20-03. ENM, Roosi, Narvamäe, Vene, Atlantis, Kesklinn V, Pauluse, Kaare, Soinaste II, Raja, Riia ring, Teaduspark, Lõunakeskus, Ravila, Tehnoloogiainstituut, Soinaste I, Kaare, Pauluse, Kesklinn II, Linnamuuseum, Vene, Narvamäe, Roosi, ENM.

24B I ENM–Annelinn–ENM I 20-03. ENM, Orava, Narvamäe, Kasarmu, Paju, Sõpruse puiestee, Kivilinna, Rahumäe, Annelinna gümnaasium, Kaunase puiestee, Kalda tee, Eeden, Anne, Sõpruse puiestee, Puiestee, Kasarmu, Roosi, ENM

24C I ENM–city centre–ENM I 22-03. The bus stops in the city centre at Raeplats (near the city park).

Tartu 2024 recommends you travel by public transport since city line buses are free of charge on January 26th.

Those arriving from the direction of either Võru, Põlva, Valga, or Tallinn, can leave their vehicles in the parking lot of Lõunakeskus. From there you can head towards downtown by taking a special transit bus, which will only operate on January 26th. Line 24A, a special transit bus operating on January 26th, will depart from the bus stop near entrance nr 5 of Lõunakeskus. 24A will operate on 26.01-27.01 from 8 PM to 3 AM by the route of ERM – Kesklinn – Lõunakeskus – ERM.

Those arriving from all other directions will be serviced by lines 24B and 24C, which will operate from 26.01-27.01. 24B will operate from 20 PM to 3 AM by the following route: ERM – Annelinn – ERM. 24C will be operational from 22 PM to 3 AM, taking the following route: ERM – Kesklinn – ERM (A more detailed overview of the special lines can be found here).

Several parking lots will be closed on January 26th: Tartu Market Hall’s parking lot will be closed from 4 PM until midnight, and the parking lot at Vanemuise tn 15 will be closed from 2 PM until midnight. The parking lots at Narva mnt 2, 2e, and 2c will remain closed.

Near ENM, parking lots A (26.01 – temporarily closed from 7 PM to 9.30 PM), B, C, and Tartu Snow Park’s parking lot will remain open. These parking lots are free of charge.

For more detailed info regarding parking fees and lots, look at the Tartu City homepage. A valid blue badge for people with disabilities guarantees free parking in Tartu’s paid parking zones. Please follow the parking rules when using private parking lots.

Drones are restricted in and around the opening ceremony location from 13.01.2024, 4.00 a.m. until 31.01.2024, 21.59 p.m. The coordinates are 582250N 0264333E, with a radius of 0.5NM or 925 metres and a height of up to 1000 feet (305 m). Drone permits are not provided during this period for this location. Drones that violate the flight ban are seized by police using a drone catcher.