Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Baltic Chain, in Stockholm

Today's blog post is not about food, but about something very important and dear to my heart. (Well, obviously food is also very important and dear to my heart!)

Nearly 70 years ago, during the second World War, my grandfather and his family (including my dad) escaped from Estonia to Sweden. It was a frightening trip to say the least - they barely survived, and slowly made a new life in Sweden.

My Estonian heritage isn't exactly something I think about every day, but I do get reminders every now and then. One such reminder is Östersjöfestivalen in Stockholm, which is an annual music festival. As it happens, it's exactly 20 years since the Baltic countries gained their freedom from Russian oppression.

To celebrate, the music festival opens by re-creating the Baltic Chain - a peaceful protest where 2 million people joined hands, and stood together all the way from Lithuania to Estonia.

2 million.

That's a lot of people. No wonder this demonstration is on Unesco's world memory list.

Obviously, this one won't be as large. But everyone is welcome to join - so if you're in Stockholm on August 27, go to Berwaldhallen at 5.45 pm and join in.

2 comments:

Līga Krista said...

Why is is that all events are always on one and the same day? Shame we cannot make it. That's life.

Pille said...

I was standing and holding hands at the original chain (Balti kett) back in 1988. It was a very special feeling and I still remember it well, eventhough I was just 14 at the time :)