This year’s festival draws attention to people and their needs.

Even though the festivals have not even started yet, the organisers are happy that the festivals are drawing a lot of attention in Finland. ’’Even though Finland is very close to Estonia, their design scene is more developed than ours. Thus, we are excited about the fact that Estonian festivals have received a lot of attention in Finland even before the festivals start,’’ says Ilona Gurjanova, the main organiser. ’’It motivates us even more to organise a great event and we hope that many Finnish people will take part in the festival,’’ she adds.

During the last few weeks, several large Finnish newspapers, including Helsingi Sanomat and many others, have published articles on design in Tallinn and the festivals.

Festival organisers have included several joint projects which are carried out in cooperation with their Finnish partners in the programme. The best of the Lahti exhibition “Feel the Design” is displayed in cooperation with Lahti Biennale and as part of the festival programme. The exhibition showcases design products which were created using new knowledge about materials, structure and usability. Nokia hosts the festival lounge and runs a workshop on design. On September 16, the exhibition Fashion Empowerment, which is a joint project of the European Capitals of Culture 2011, Tallinn and Turku, is opened. The aim of the project is to create practical but attractive fashion for people who do not usually belong to the fashion designers’ target group.