Student Days Festival brings pancakes and sock wrestling

From 25 September to 1 October, the Tartu Student Days Festival invites new students to settle into life in Tartu and make new friends in a fun way.

The festival starts with a traditional pancake morning in Town Hall Square, and during the week you can take part in the Pub Crawl and Cart Race and test your physical and mental abilities in various ways. 

According to Joonas Masing, Press and Communications Manager at Tartu Student Days, the organisers aim to help new students settle in. "As students organising events for other students, we can offer them activities and experiences they can relate to," said Masing. 

Every Student Days Festival also tries to come up with something new. Examples of this year's new events include the Stock Bar, Records on Flames and Sock Wrestling. 

"The Stock Bar is for people who want to experience something more exciting than the usual bar experience: the prices of the drinks on the menu change according to demand and supply, so expect an evening full of unpredictability," described Masing. 

At the Records on Flames party at Genialists' Club, the audience and a jury determine the best DJ. Those interested in competing had to pre-register and submit their demo. Everyone is welcome to dance and assess the competitors. 

Masing says that Sock Wrestling is a serious challenge with a fun and unique objective – not to defeat the opponent as in classical wrestling, but just to grab their sock. "Both competitors will start with one sock and must get their opponent's sock without losing their own," explained Masing. The winners of this spectacular competition will be determined separately in men's and women's categories. 

The final days of the festival are largely dedicated to new students. At the traditional Freshmen Initiation on Friday, first-year students can go through an obstacle course designed to prepare them for university life. Participants can get a discount ticket to the Fresh Meat Party taking place the same evening at Tartu Market Hall to experience the nightlife of the university town. 

See the full programme: studentdays.ee/en.

Translated and abridged from the article first published in the magazine Universitas Tartuensis