Festival Kaera-Jaan

Festival Kaera-Jaan is a land art and folk culture festival at Vooremäe hills in Kastre municipality. A trail of magical sculptures trail is created in a family-friendly natural environment with a folk fair, exhibition and surprise performers. A community performance created throughout the year will be staged on the trail and the set design is dedicated to straw and hay.

Vooremäe hills are told to have held a city there once, but it had sank underground. In May, the city rises again on Vooremäe for only one weekend: as a bubbling fairground, as a magical path of straw and wood sculptures, in the form of a site-specific community play. In celebration of Kaera-Jaan, the blacksmith from Lääniste, who comes from the region and is sung into history books in the form of a famous folk song, straw is the theme of the event. So the audience seating areas, cafe areas and an adventurous straw world for children are made out of it. Straw also becomes a tool for artists who create nature-friendly wood and straw sculptures in residencies at Järvselja and Vooremäe, from which the sculpture trail will be formed. During the festival, a magical community theater production will be performed on the trail with the era’s residents sharing their stories and skills. The performance is produced in cooperation between the municipality of Kastre and the Latvian company Initium. The Kaera-Jaan themed exhibition will be produces by Tantsupeomuuseum and the artistic program is led by sculptor Elo Liiv.

Project is organized by Department of Education and Culture of Kastre municipality and it is part of the main programme of European Culture Capitol 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-kastre