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Arena Market: Estonia

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Estonia’s most famous oddity is one of Europe’s most unique venues: the legendary Linnahall.

This iconic Soviet Modernism structure was built as part of the Moscow 1980 Olympics, the sailing events for which were held in Tallinn (then part of the USSR). The roof of the incredible waterside structure served as a giant viewing platform, while the hall below hosted all kinds of events. Various plans from refurbishment to demolition have been mooted as the central area around the Linnahall is up for redevelopment, and the waterside real estate is prime. But this is a one-of-a-kind venue.

Estonia is a small country, though, with a total population of just 1.4m. “Due to the size of the country, the market is not very big. We are very dependent on tours visiting our neighbouring countries and therefore reaching us as well.

“Due to the size of the country, the market is not very big. We are very dependent on tours visiting our neighbouring countries and therefore reaching us as well.”

Geographically, we are at the corner of Europe, so it requires us to do much more convincing to get these acts to come to Estonia. It’s a shame because Estonian music fans are very passionate. I wish we’d get to bring them much more music,” says Siim Ammon of the Unibet Arena, one of two key venues in the country and the biggest in the capital.

Unibet is a 10,000-cap venue situated near the city centre that has recently welcomed Louis Tomlinson, Måneskin, and Swedish power metallers Sabaton.

For Ammon, “2024 looks about the same as 2023, so we don’t have either much growth or decline. We see that legacy/ retro acts that used to sell very good are starting to lose their following. People are more interested in newer modern music, which I’m very happy about. Local artists are gaining a lot of popularity as well – for the first time ever, 50% of our visitors were coming to see local artists.

“We’re working hard on modernising the venue – technology is moving so fast, and we’re trying to keep up. Signage with LED screens, automatic entrance gates, and ordering food through the app … are just a few examples.” Additionally, it has invested in making 25% of energy usage green, with a plan to ramp that number up to 50% by summer. Reusable cups and food packaging are also part of the green solutions rolled out at the venue.

In Estonia, there are no venues with capacities around 2,500–5,000 people. Until someone fixes that, we’ve created a “blackbox” concept.”

There is perhaps space for more venues in the market. But until then, innovative solutions have been found. Ammon explains: “In Estonia, there are no venues with capacities around 2,500–5,000 people. Until someone fixes that, we’ve created a “blackbox” concept.

This means we cover the arena 360° in black curtain, meaning there are no seats visible at all. This gives a more intimate place for standing-only shows, and it’s always going to be visually a full house as we can move the curtain according to ticket sales. This project is slowly getting more popular, and we’re hoping to utilise it much more in the future.”

Tallinn is also famed for Tallinn Music Week, a festival so much a part of cultural life in Estonia that even the president of the country, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, turned up to DJ at the festival’s opening bash one year.

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