From February 14 to March 4, the Tallinn Bun Fest will take over the city – a unique winter food festival that blends Estonia’s Shrove Tuesday traditions with Tallinn’s world-class café culture.

In Estonia, Shrove Tuesday traditions remain vibrant – and enjoying delicious Shrove Tuesday buns (vastlakuklid) is a time-honored way for families, friends, and colleagues to come together. The festival will feature Tallinn’s most renowned cafés and bakeries, offering both classic and innovative versions of these beloved treats.

Deputy Mayor Margot Roose emphasized that the festival is not only aimed at locals but also plays a key role in boosting tourism. “Tallinn Bun Fest brings a fresh take on Shrove Tuesday traditions, allowing both locals and visitors to enjoy these seasonal delights for an extended period. This first-ever festival is designed to showcase Tallinn’s rich food and café culture. At the same time, it is part of a broader strategy to extend the peak winter tourism season beyond the Christmas period into March. We hope that Bun Fest will become an annual event that also helps stimulate Tallinn’s hospitality sector,” Roose explained.

“For the first time, we are transforming the Shrove Tuesday tradition into a food festival and testing how this format impacts marketing efforts targeting key neighboring markets. Shrove Tuesday buns are not only a treat for those with a sweet tooth but also an eye-catching element in international destination marketing. The festival is centered around the genuine joy of locals celebrating Shrove Tuesday and the world-class offerings of Tallinn’s cafés, making the city an even more attractive winter destination in the long run,” said Evelin Tsirk, Head of Tallinn’s Tourism Department.

The tradition of Shrove Tuesday buns is not unique to Estonia – they are also enjoyed in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The Tallinn Bun Fest builds cultural connections with Tallinn’s key target markets, strengthening ties with neighboring countries. At the same time, for international visitors, the event introduces something entirely new – Shrove Tuesday buns as a unique and exciting culinary experience that invites them to discover Tallinn.

“The role of cafés and bakeries is to make the most delicious buns possible, while the job of locals and visitors is to enjoy them,” Tsirk explained. “Tallinn’s tourism team focuses on international outreach and engaging tourism professionals from nearby markets. While future editions of the festival may target Scandinavian tourists more broadly, this year we are primarily expecting visitors from Finland. That’s why the festival’s ambassador is Henna Mikkilä, a Finland-born travel influencer living in Tallinn, with over 100,000 followers,” she added.

A wide range of cafés and bakeries across Tallinn have answered the call to participate in the festival, including Crustum, Estonian Open Air Museum, Faehlmanni Café, Fotografiska Café, Gelato Ladies, Karjase Sai, Kohvik Lummus, Kohvik Maiasmokk, La Boulangerie, Levier, Patarein Pagar, Pelgu Pagar, PROTO Invention Factory, Puffid, Reval Café, and the Tallinn TV Tower Café-Restaurant.

For more details on the festival and participating venues, visit the Visit Tallinn Tallinn Bun Fest page. Exciting updates will also be shared on Visit Tallinn’s Instagram and Facebook (find the FB event here).

We invite everyone to join the festival fun and share their bun experiences on social media using the hashtags #tallinnakuklifest, #tallinnbunfest, #visittallinn, and #tallinnfood.