On May 19, 2023, the Estonian American National Council (EANC) held a town hall for purposes of gathering input and ideas on the future of the beloved international Estonian festival known as ESTO. The event was held over Zoom, attended by approximately 75 Estonian Americans from across the USA, a number of whom stayed engaged on the topic beyond the official ending of the program.
After a brief introduction to the history and original purposes of the ESTO festival by council president Marju Ring-Abel and council board member Gilda Karu, participants were divided into 7 breakout groups. (The breakout session was facilitated by EANC vice president Maia Linask.) The groups discussed three questions: What does ESTO mean to you? What should its mission be today? What would attract you to attend an ESTO?
Estonians in the US are encouraged to participate in survey.
A written survey presenting the same discussion questions is open to the Estonian American public, so that EANC can best represent the interested and thoughts of local Estonians when meeting with the international ESTO working group in July. Please submit survey responses no later than June 25.
Survey link: http://estosite.org/estosurvey
Contact: Leelo Linask, EANC executive director
[email protected]
