Last week, the Tartu Song Festival 2009 logo competition came to an end. The participation was active: 29 authors sent in over 60 different designs.

On 4 August, the festival's Artistic Committee and designers made their choice. About a dozen designs were successful in the first round and the committee made their final decision between them by a secret vote.

The chosen logo was designed by Margus Mekk, who told in his description of the work: "The song festival logo means presentation of certain symbols using modern graphic style. This way, an image is created that is both traditional and innovative". The winning logo combines old and new, with a light stress on modernity.

 Three candidate logos, designed by Liina Kullerkupp, Andres Oreškin and Einike Leppik, were noted. Upon reaching agreements with the authors, two of them are planned to be included in the song festival decorations.

The prize fund was distributed as follows: 10,000 kroons for the winning design and 3,000 kroons for each noted design. The money for the prizes comes from donations to the Foundation for Tartu Song and Dance Festivals at Cultural Endowment of Tartu.

Tartu Song Festival will take place on 13 June 2009. Over 5,000 singers, dancers and instrumentalists from Tartu and Tartu County plus groups from farther away are expected to participate. The festival concert will focus on Tartu in both repertoire and direction. The celebration's underlying ideas are traditions and inter-generation bonds combined with looking to the future, youthfulness and innovation.