TALLINN - Earth Day, April 22, and Mothers' Day, May 8, have about as much in common as Nirvana and needlepoint. But if you mix the two together in a juniper bowl, throw in some crystals and do an Estonian folk dance, you end up with something like the Mother Earth Fair, an international trade fair and conference taking place April 16 and 17 at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. The event, now in its 13th year, touches on such esoterica as biomagnetism, healing mantras, aura photography … oh yeah, and Tupperware.
The conference's main aim is to promote environmental awareness and healthy, natural lifestyles. Entitled "Nature, Our Mother," its topics will range from practical matters such as "Are vitamins really dangerous?" and how weather affects the human organism to more new-age subjects like healing mantras, meditation and introductions to Falun Gong and Falun Dafa - Chinese practices aimed at improving mental and physical health.
If all this sounds a bit too foreign, bear in mind that Balts are infamous nature lovers. There will be no shortage of environment-related books, art, wood products and handicrafts on sale. And, as goes for almost every fair in the country, the schedule includes a prerequisite of folk singing and dancing, with performances by the Ave musical ensemble.
For non-Estonian speakers, the exhibitions and sale booths will likely hold more interest than the lectures and films. In addition to the above-mentioned folksy, Baltic items, you can expect to find a host of 'wellness' products, natural creams and cosmetics, amulets, symbols and the whole bag of granola.
In keeping with the event's new-age teachings, aura photograph has also made the list of attractions. For those readers without the benefit of a California upbringing, an aura is an energy field that surrounds all living things. The color and strength of a person's aura supposedly represents personality, mood or state of health. Auras can be photographed using specialized equipment, though bear in mind that such pictures are generally not valid for passports or drivers licenses - at least not on our planet.
Granted, the presence of mundane, plastic Tupperware does at first seem to go against the overall earthiness of the event. Then again, Tupperware is reusable and can do a lot to keep your organically grown carrots nice and crisp.
Children attending the fair will also be catered to, with a special kids' activity room set up, as well as ATV rides and more environmentally-friendly electric cars for the little tykes. So dig up your old pair of Birkenstocks and head on down.
