The aim is to create a detailed cultural route plan and join forces along the Runo ja Rajan tie (Poem and Border Road) in the vicinity of the eastern border on the Finnish side. The preparatory process will expand during the years 2020 and 2021 to the Narva and Tartu areas in Estonia, to the eastern regions of Latvia, as well as to Lithuania, and possibly to the Leningrad area in Russia.
During the project, cooperation agreements will be prepared with key stakeholders in the regions. The agreements will confirm the course of the sought-after ‘Singing Route’, the roles of partners, the future management model of the route, as well as country-specific sub-themes, which there may be several of.
The main theme of the route are the culturally important and valuable singing traditions of the region. In Finland, the Republic of Karelia, and the Ingria area, epic poetry is a central element of intangible cultural heritage. In the Estonian region, there is the Setos’ polyphonic ‘leelo’ singing, which is already on UNESCO’s lists, as well as the ‘sutartinės’ singing tradition found especially in Northern and Eastern Lithuania, and the song festival tradition of the Baltic States. In addition to these, the route may have several side themes, for example, the sauna (in Finland and Estonia), local food traditions, and war memorials along the route, meeting places of Western and Eastern Christianity, the Estonian National Museum and other museums in the regions, as well as the areas’ beautiful and diverse natural sites.”
Note: Some terms like “Runo ja Rajan tie” and “Singing Route” are kept in their original form as they might be specific names or titles.
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