During past 10 years I have been to hundreds of parties and most of them were in Tartu. These are in my opinion the all time best nightlife venues in Tartu. Feel free to comment and contribute to this list in the comments. Which one was your favorite and what happened there? I'll post the list about current top ten soon.
10. Sõbramaja - now the student house. It's been a popular place for holding student parties. It has two rooms. The big stage on the first floor is really impressive and can fit a lot of people and a couple of my youth's hip-hop parties also took place there. The other room is in the basement and it has couches lining the walls and a cool mirror ceiling genuine 90s Estonian provincial glamour. I got away with playing Atari teenage riot to my fellow students there.
9. Pärmivabrik - the old yeast factory functioned as a culture center for around two years. It was always cold, but nonetheless birthdays, student parties and even a wedding was held there. I think their room has been the biggest in Tartu.
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| Photo probably by Priit Salumaa. |
8. Maailm - a youthful cafe/club. The walls and tables were covered with magazines and photos from the parties. There were swings hanging from the ceiling and the infamous double toilet. The birthplace of the Neljapäev with lazers night that's still going on.
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| My live at Neljapäev with lazers in Maailm. |
7. Kruusaauk - only went there twice. It was on the outskirts of the town and it was an abandoned house in a valley, a totally surreal place. One time at a birthday there 10 blondes in red shirts showed up out of nowhere and we never knew why. Inga describes it as: "a very magical place in the valley especially in the moonlight. In winter you could just sleigh to the door, there were burning stoves awaiting and everyone there became your friend."
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| Only photo of Kruusaauk, the house there. By Rein Urbel. |
6. Damtan Dance - never went to a party there, because I was too young, but my older cousin and friends were always talking about it. It was an illegal house venue and a contemporary art gallery. Every time the police showed up the guy at the door had to run away with the money. It later involved and became a part of Eclectica festival. [I found no photos, but if you have any then send them to me.]
5. Varjend - a former nuclear shelter, how cool is that. It played an important roll in the emerging electronic music scene in Tartu around 2000. It was mostly about the DnB and house scene but they had also Metal and Hip-hop parties. There was no mobile signal inside and the walls were covered with graffiti and graphics (done by a now well known tattooist).
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| Party in Varjend in the 90s |
4. Illusioon - this is a former cinema and before it became a commercial club, it was a dump. Despite that trashy look it hosted one of the coolest parties I used to frequent as a teenager - Hip Hop Hooray. It was a must-go for teenagers at that time and the people organizing it were underage as well. It once took me there 80 minutes to get in and I was on the list: another time I tagged along with the organizers as they counted their earnings on a nearby basketball court.
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| 16yo me and girls in Illusioon at Hip hop hooray |
3. Old Genclub - it was a small, dark and old house with a lot of people in there it doubled as a blackbox theater. There was an extra stage in the dirty basement with dripping pipes overhead and underground music. People who wanted to get in for free sled under the gate and got caught by the security guards, but the masters climbed over a house to get in.
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| DnB producer Inztance clubbing at old Genklubi |
2. Kellele ei meeldiks Johnny Depp - "Who wouldnt like Johnny Depp". I worked there as a barmen during my first year in University. Ran by the musician Chalice and the owners of Maailm, Noku, Truffe and Werner at the time. There has never been a club in Tartu that would have had such an impressive line-up every week. There were bands 3 days a week playing there and good Djs to enjoy, but that's probably why it didn't last.
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| View of Depp by Evert Palmets |
1. Sadamateater - 1st party I ever went to. I was 13 years old and it was a D'n'B party. After that I went to numerous nights there with cool people and a great atmosphere. The venue is interesting as there are so many places to go: the elevated seats around the stage, the backstage goes through two floors and occasionally you could get on the roof (sometimes there was an extra stage there).
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| A stage on the roof and a clown giving out ice-cream in Sadamateater. |
Add your suggestions and ideas in the comments. Your favorite venues of the past and what happened there. Soon the top 10 of current venues in Tartu.
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