KiKuMu Festival—A Good First Time

Text and photos Stewart Johnson

 

This new festival’s name stands for Cinema, Art, and Music, an eclectic name that matches the venue’s architectural variety, the festival-goers’ clothing styles, and the myriad of entertainment throughout the premises. Located around Jäneda Manor near Aegviidu, just under an hour’s drive from Tallinn, KiKuMu was less of a festival than it was a massive party at the old high school, where you can see old friends, and make new ones.

The manor house is a gorgeous red-brick structure built in the early 20th century to replace the now lost original manor house first mentioned in the year 1510. The attached Soviet-era agricultural school complex dates back to 1975, and is so incredibly ugly it’s hard to look away from, but it eventually becomes rather beautiful to experience, like listening to many of the Germanic languages. The adjoining manor park has ponds guarded by angry swans, and auxiliary manor buildings fully restored, with the obligatory gray-brick “screw you” buildings the Soviet government liked to insert between surviving examples of local architecture.

 

 

Somewhere in between all this is a small area with broken asphalt, surrounded by trees, temporary fences, and a makeshift stage for the main concerts of the KiKuMu Festival. I arrived in the early afternoon so I could finally see Vaiko Eplik in concert—he’s always been more or less my favorite Estonian artist, and in my 25+ years in Estonia, I’d somehow never seen him live. There was some confusion upon arrival however, and I was worried I’d miss the event.

As I approached the venue by car, I saw a sign that indicated it was a parking area, but there was no mention that it was affiliated with the festival. Just a random parking lot on a grassy field, quite a walk from the festival itself. Assuming it might only be some local farmer trying to scam attendees by tricking them into paying for parking before the officially sanctioned parking area, I continued to Jäneda Manor. I was able to drive right up to the gates of the festival. I was camping however, despite the ample indoor accommodations available. The only question was, where was the camping area? Signs providing information were few and far between, and when I did see a sign for camping, there was only a parking lot. Luckily the parking attendant politely instructed me to drive through the parking lot, to the grassy camping area behind.

After parking, with the plan to set up camp after Eplik’s concert, it was a brief hop, skip and jump to the festival gate. Meanwhile, I saw friends I had seen 20 minutes earlier at the distant parking area finally arriving on foot. Eplik was warming up, without a band, and without security, because this is Estonia. No one cares if you’re one of the top artists in the country, or even world. Michael Fassbender was in Estonia last year, and was supposedly shocked that he could simply walk around freely, without escort, and without disguise. Estonia is a good place for famous people to take a vacation from their fame.

 

 

Eplik began his solo, acoustic 45-minute concert at precisely three o’clock on Saturday. His rapport with the audience was so strong that while he was playing music for us, it quickly became obvious that we were actually playing for him with our applause and appreciation, which fed directly into his energy on stage. He had a tight schedule, and could only perform one encore song, before skedaddling off to his next gig without a single person asking for a selfie. I was tempted to, but I’ve learned to behave more like an Estonian, and less like an American.

It was time to eat. I had a long night ahead, and needed to stay fully fueled. There were only two food trucks for the entire festival, and while the lines weren’t long, and the food was prepared quickly, the portions were a bit small, and the rice for the curry and bibimbap was a bit undercooked. Ten euros for a small meal however in today’s Estonia was a bargain, so I can’t really complain.

Drinks were another issue. There were bars scattered throughout the festival area, and the lines there were also usually fairly short and quick, but all the cups, and dinnerware, were reusable. You just had to leave a deposit. The problem was that most people paid for their food and beverages, and deposit, by card. When you returned the cups, the vendors had quickly run out of one and two-euro coins to refund your deposit. This equaled out to a 20% surcharge on beer. I’m sure the provider of these cups and dishes will figure something out in the very near future.

Meanwhile, two shoe-gazing bands played on the same stage. One was Estonian—mariin k.—and one was from Brooklyn, New York. As much as people my age might enjoy the nostalgia for this elegant style of music that exists mostly in our collective memories, it seemed a bit out of place for the late afternoon of Estonia’s summer day. Between the bands’ sets, the venue’s speakers blasted Cocteau Twins.

At six o’clock I had hoped to watch Maarja Nuut in concert on one of the other two stages, but I ran into several Estonian friends I hadn’t seen in years. This is a summary of the same conversation I had with each of them:

Me: Hey, good to see you! It’s been a long time.

Estonian friend: Yes, it has.

Me: How have you been?

Estonian friend: Goodbye.

I wandered across the bridge over the small pond behind the school, and made my way to the lake. Lots of people were swimming, and there was a sauna available for a token fee. Meanwhile, a small crowd had gathered to watch the waterfront chess tournament. What I liked about this festival was that I saw more people place their king on its side as they concede a game, as opposed to people themselves falling on their side as they concede a beer. Several of Estonia’s best DJs from the 90s up till now were playing background music via the legendary Mutant Disco series.

 

 

Cinema and art. These are the two things I hadn’t seen yet, at this cinema, art, and music festival. I went inside the school building, which was actually impressively large on the inside. There were even two outdoor terraces with grass and trees…on the third floor. A film programme was available in the cinema room, and there were several art galleries, with various installations located among the paintings and photographs. The art was great, but honestly I enjoyed exploring the bizarre Soviet architecture more.

I was surprised to find an elderly sommelier selling Champagne and sparkling wine by the bottle and by the glass in the middle of all this. “Where’s the Champagne from?” I asked him. “Champagne,” he kindly replied. “Where is the sparkling wine from?” I followed up. “Not Champagne,” he dryly answered in Estonian.

 

 

The evening progressed into the night, and it was time for the concert I hadn’t expected to enjoy so very much: Meisterjaan. He is a younger man who plays the jaw harp with bass-heavy ethno–folk tracks with deep, guttural vocals and electric guitar. I had heard of him before, and I honestly admit I didn’t think this sort of music would be so thoroughly fun to experience in concert. I wish he had played a couple hours more. But it was time for the fashion show.

Yes, there was a midnight fashion show at a music festival. This part was a bit bizarre however, as it eventually looked like a few men in their 50s dancing drunk on stage, with nothing to do with fashion whatsoever. I wandered around the venue some more, and found a room playing EDM, or electronic dance music, where I spent the rest of the night until I made my way back to the tent.

Despite how close the camping area was to the festival area, it was a quiet, peaceful night. These festival-goers knew how to behave. It was the complete opposite of events like Õllesummer, or Woodstock ‘99.

When I woke up, I was hungry. The food trucks were not yet open, but one of the accommodations had breakfast for only €10, which they for some reason had decided to advertise on the outdoor toilet boxes. The morning buffet was very underwhelming however for that price. Only bread, cheese and ham, with oatmeal and cherry jam. Fortunately, there was a shop just up the road that was open at nine on a Sunday morning.

 

 

Overall, I am very happy with the day and night I spent at the KiKuMu Festival. It was their first time organizing this festival, and they did a very good job, despite a few hiccups. At least these hiccups weren’t from drunken crowds consuming too much beer. I look forward to attending again next summer!

 

To learn more about this and similar topics
Aegviidu Events in Estonia Jäneda KIKUMU Maarja Nuut Mutant Disco Summer in Estonia Vaiko Eplik