Organizer: Culture Capital Program Passed With Flying Colors

Most of the countless events planned for the European Capital of Culture 2011 were a success and the result as a whole was "cool," said Mikko Fritze, former board member of the Tallinn 2011 Foundation.

Tallinn and Finland's Turku shared the honor as European Capital of Culture 2011. The programs in the two cities, however, cannot be compared, Fritze told ETV. While Tallinn's program was organized more on the grassroots level, locally, and with the help of volunteers, the small Finnish town of Turku had a larger budget, but had to call in reinforcement from Helsinki.

"At the least, neither city's reputation suffered during the culture capital year, and probably they gained," Fritze said.

Throughout the year, around 7,000 events took place within the Tallinn program.

The closing ceremony of the European Capital of Culture 2011 took place on December 22 in various parts of Tallinn. At Freedom Square, people gathered to listen to a unique church bell concert, while the cruise ship dock of the Old Town Harbor accommodated a screening of 60 one-minute films made by directors from all over the world. The ceremony ended with a fire show on Harjumägi.