Opinion Festival on 7.-8. August in Paide

We are delighted to announce that this year we once again take part in the Opinion Festival with several discussions. We invite everyone to join us in listening and debating at the “Püsime Kursil / Onward & On Course” area!

Date: August 7-8 August, 2026
Location: Paide Vallimägi, areas no. 23 and 17

The Estonian Opinion Festival is a meeting place for all layers of society, giving a platform for different worldviews with the goal of improving discussion culture and civic education. 

In the heart of Estonian summer and the Nordic-Baltic democracy festival season, the city of Paide becomes a meeting place for ideas, dialogue and connection. This year, the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Estonia area is called “Onward & On Course” – providing a stage for topics that capture the Nordic-Baltic region’s progress in shared challenges and possibilities. We focus on 35 years anniversary of the NCM Estonia Office and on themes that reflect the burning issues of our time – from manfluencers to menopause, from AI and digitalisation to sustainability, from culture to societal resilience, security and community-building.  A common thread throughout is the importance of dialogue, inclusion and cooperation in helping society move forward with confidence and purpose.

ArvamusFestival is free of charge and open to everyone who would like to discuss and tackle issues that matter to us all. ArvamusFestival is part of the Democracy Festivals Association

This year’s Nordic area is made possible with the collaboration the Nordic Council of Ministers´ Office in Estonia with the Embassies of Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands, President Kaljulaid Foundation, Estonian Cooperation Assembly, Danish Cultural Institute, Finnish Institute, Community Development and Social Well-being Programme of the University of Tartu, Estonian Dialogue Academy, Ida-Viru Entrepreneurship Centre, Estonian Office of the Gender Equality Commissioner, Garage 48, and the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences.

Programme

Friday, August 7

All day: Special 35th anniversary exhibition in the small tent: “35-years of Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Estonia”

12:00–13:30 “Openly About Menopause: Health, Work and Taboos”

14:00–15:30 “How will AI shape Estonias society in next 5 years

16:00–17:30 “Culture and defence: different tools, same purpose?”

18:00–19:30 “Resilience in Practice: Lessons from Estonia, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands”

On Friday, the discussions starting at 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00 will be in English with interpretation into Estonian Sign Language.

Saturday, August 8

All day: Special 35th anniversary exhibition in the small tent: “35-years of Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Estonia”

11:00–12:30 “Manfluencers & Tradwifery: Who Benefits from Extreme Gender Roles?”

13:00–14:00 “Dialogues and complicated topics – how to discuss important issues without fighting?

14:30–16:00 “What happens when people build together?”

16:30–18:00 “The hidden environmental cost of the digital world

On Saturday, the discussions starting at 13:00, 14:30 and 16:30 will be in English with interpretation into Estonian Sign Language.

Dialogues

In addition, our Dialogue Tent (Area 17) will host a series of public discussions where we will explore common ground and ways to talk about important issues – even when there are no easy answers.

7 August
12:00–13:00 “Faith in the Future – A Door to the Future”
13:30–14:30 “A Good Life: Personal Achievement or a Shared Goal?”
15:00–16:00 “How Do We Live?” (discussion in Russian)
16:30–17:30 “How Will I Cope?”

8 August
12:00–13:00 “Should AI Access Be Limited for Youth?”
13:30–14:30 “Forest Dialogue: Finding Common Ground”
15:00–16:00 “Is a Shared Future Possible Despite Different Histories?” (discussion in Russian)
16:30–17:30 “What Is Your Willingness to Defend?”

Full program: arvamusfestival.ee/kava

Live stream from ArvamusFestival

The discussions will be live-streamed on our Facebook channel on 7-8 August 2026: https://fb.me/e/4U86jyc2T . After the event, video-recordings will be available on our YouTube channel and podcasts of discussions will be shared on ArvamusFestival webpage.