Naked Truth

Opinion festival in saunas, where the sauna benches are the discussion stages. The goal is a nice get-together, promotion of sauna culture and development of conversation culture based on the example of sauna.

Mobile saunas are collected on the Emajõgi City Beach near the city center. Each full hour begins with a conversation that lasts 20-30 minutes. Then there’s the cooling. The conversations have three themes: tradition (rehe), green (rohe), and peace (rahu). A new start at full hour again. It is possible to continue the conversation while cooling.

Conversation rounds are 3 at Friday ( at 17, 18 and 19) and 4 at Saturday (at 15, 16, 17, 18). On both days, the program ends with a relaxing sauna ritual. There is also 3 quiet saunas at the area. Total amount of saunas in the area is 13. In addition there is one satellite sauna in UNESCO-listed smoke sauna tradition area in Southern Estonia. (Separate registration: https://forms.office.com/e/AL7W9se3gu ) Smoke sauna is joinig the festival only at Saturday, the 11th of May.

The conversation style in saunas is what it should be like everywhere – friendly, avoiding confrontation, looking for common ground, inclusive. The sauna is a deep root of our culture, and nowadays bringing well-being and relaxation, pop in every age group and layer of community. The sauna is equal, there are no titles, decoration or uniforms.

People in the sauna treat each other with respect, friendliness and sincerity. Without smart phones the focus is on the personal contact. The truth is naked in the literal sense of the word.

There are totally 11 conversation saunas, 2 of them are in English.

Please take a swimsuit, a towel and a water bottle with you.

“Naked Truth” is part of the main programme of the European Capital of Culture in Tartu 2024.

If you want to grab a bite or need a place to stay, see what the Tartu 2024 hospitality network offers in the area: https://tartu2024.ee/recommendations-tartucity