The Mascot of Tartu Student Days - VILLEM

The mascot of the Student Days Villem, a yellow dog, came into existence in 2002 shortly before the Student Days in autumn. The first Villem and all the Villems after that have been drawn by Kristjan Rattus.

During the Spring Student Days in 2003, the mascot could already be seen in life size but it was still without a name. It was only in autumn the same year that the yellow dog was named Villem. The naming ceremony was held in the Town Hall Square. In order to make the name stick to the mascot, he had to run around the fountain three times and then symbolically wag his tail to every direction towards the letters of his name. Initially, the mascot was to be named Pitsu; other variants offered had included Vello Vallatu, Mupsik, Tilbik Rebane, Tupsu, Õllesõber,  Põnta, Krinksu, etc.

But why the mascot has to be a dog? A dog is a loyal friend, who listens to you, relieves stress and is willing to do everything together with you, be it sports or singing. Villem is the eternal student, never-aging and always friendly, smart and cool. During the Student Days, Villem is wild and open to all sorts of activities. His message is: “Rest your spirit!”

The more alert students might have noticed that in addition to the call to rest your spirit, every spring and autumn, the festival has had a theme or a key word. Those of the previous years have been associated with health, creativity, friendship, history, activeness, environmentally friendly thinking, the joy of DIY and breaking out of daily routine.