According to BBC Travel, Tallinn Music Week is one of just seven live music experiences worldwide worth travelling for in 2026.
The accolade comes via BBC Travel’s freshly published list, Seven live music experiences worth travelling for in 2026, which urges readers to think beyond the destination concert and instead choose a musical destination. Tallinn, it seems, fits that brief perfectly.
Taking place from 9–12 April 2026, Tallinn Music Week, also known as TMW, is described as a city-wide celebration of creativity – one that spills well beyond conventional concert halls. Since its founding in 2009, the festival has steadily expanded from a music industry showcase into an urban cultural phenomenon, temporarily transforming the Estonian capital into what BBC calls a “true city of sound”.
What sets TMW apart is its format. Alongside familiar venues, performances unfold in unexpected locations: private homes, public transport, churches, galleries and pop-up spaces woven into everyday city life. The result is not just a programme to attend, but a city to experience.
Tallinn Music Week in 2024. Photo by Janar Puuram.
The BBC article highlights the festival’s 2026 special programme, Muusikalinnade helid (Sounds of Music Cities), which brings artists from UNESCO Cities of Music to Tallinn – a gesture that underscores TMW’s international outlook and its role as a cultural connector between cities, scenes and audiences.
But music is only part of the story. As the BBC notes, TMW doubles as a wider festival of ideas and lifestyles. Visitors are encouraged to drift through Tallinn’s medieval Old Town, before heading to Telliskivi Creative City – the festival’s modern epicentre of design shops, food spots and creative industries. Workshops, talks and culinary experiences sit comfortably alongside gigs, blurring the line between culture and daily life.
Tallinn Music Week finds itself in distinguished company on BBC Travel’s list. The other six selections range from the Flow Festival in Helsinki and Poland’s Off Festival, to the NHK Symphony Orchestra’s centenary celebrations in Tokyo and International Jazz Day in Chicago.
