Helkakulkue 2014. Photo Kaisu Mokkila.
Press release 5.7.2018
Living heritage is one of the themes of the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival this year. As a concept, living heritage covers a very wide area, from snow play to poetry singing. Kaustis' violin playing tradition is one of the first Finnish sites to be nominated for UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, but the Folk Music Festival will also highlight other interesting cultural heritage. One of the most unique events at the festival will be a visit to the Ritvala Festival of Hell.
”Then the world will end when Ridvala's heap and Hittula's field end.”
The Sääksmäkelä proverb, Elias Lönnrot 1831.
The Feast of Heroes is celebrated annually on Pentecost in the village of Ritvala in Sääksmäki, which now belongs to Valkeakoski. The festival has been celebrated since ancient times, but in its current form it has continued since 1904.. In the pearl festival, unmarried maidens form a procession singing pearl chants in the Kalevala format, followed by an open-air village festival with dance and music performances.
– The easiest way to get involved in the tradition is to be born in these areas, says Dr. Philosopher, who is deeply familiar with the tradition. Leena Valkeapää.
However, Valkeapää assures that they are also trying to involve new residents who have moved to the village of a couple of hundred people, which means that the tradition is open to all those interested. People come from far and wide to the festival itself, with the procession often including around 80 singers, from little girls to adults. The school helps to keep the tradition going.
– In 1904, a teacher set up a choir at the elementary school, when the girls in the village asked if they could sing hellfire hymns. Even now, the village school in Ritvala and Huittula is heavily involved, with lessons that include folk dances and singing of pearl cherubs. Of course, change is always exciting, and now the curriculum has changed, and there is no longer any official mention of the festival of Hell. Keeping the village school is also important, of course! There is also cooperation with the Valkeakoski Music College, whose folk music group will accompany the folk dance performances at the festival.
Only unmarried women take part in the parade, but there is no organisation, for example no advance registration.
– It is up to the women to decide how long they will be in the procession. I personally encourage older women to join in, courage and confidence come with age, and the hell with singing in the open air. But no one from outside will determine whether you can join in or not, even if you are dating or cohabiting.
In Kaustinen, a group of 19 women from Ritvala visit to showcase the tradition of the Feast of Tabernacles.
– The age range is from 6 to 60, so it's not just girls - only women who have ever sung in a procession. The tradition has been presented in Kaustinen once before, and we have at least one who was part of it back then, in the 1970s.
The presentation of the tradition of the Feast of Tabernacles outside its own context is a very exceptional event.
– It feels great and exciting to come to Kaustinen. Usually you don't go anywhere else from Ritvala - they sing the hymns on Pentecost, they don't go around performing them.
Intangible cultural heritage on the rise
Director of the Folk Music Institute Matti Hakamäki is very enthusiastic about the Year of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which will also be celebrated in Kaustinen with a seminar. In addition to experts on cultural heritage, speakers at Friday's seminar will include the Member of Parliament Tuomo Puumala. In early June, the Folk Music Institute was designated as Finland's first UNESCO Expert Organisation for Intangible Cultural Heritage.
– The news that the Kaušti violin playing tradition is to be included on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage is, in my opinion, good news for the entire field of Finnish folk music and folk dance. In connection with the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, we are also trying to present cultural heritage from other places, such as Roma songs and the Feast of Hell this year. The Feast of Tabernacles is a small and vulnerable tradition that brings refreshing and important perspectives to Kaustinen.
Hakamäki is visibly excited by the whole concept of intangible cultural heritage, and all the new doors that this might open.
– There is a clear shift in the museum field and in cultural heritage policy towards an emphasis on intangible heritage. I believe that this will not only provide important contacts and welcome discussion, but also new winds for the funding base for folk music and folk dance.
Cultural heritage policy in transition - seminar Fri 13.7. at 15.00-17.00 Museum Hall, Folk Art Centre
Helkakulkue throughout the ages Fri 13.7. departure at 17.30 from the Folk Art Centre towards the Festival Park
Ritvala Helkalaulajat Sat 14.7. at 12.15 Iholla hall
Living Heritage Clinic Fri 13.7. at 13.00-14.30 Museum Hall (Folk Art Centre)
Main concert of the Living Heritage theme Sat 14.7. at 14.30-15.30 Keskipohjanmaa-areena
It is also worth checking out the Finnish Living Heritage wiki list, where you can find lots of interesting examples of what living heritage can mean: https://wiki.aineetonkulttuuriperinto.fi/
51. Kaustinen Folk Music Festival will be held 9.-15.7.2018.
Summer programme information can be found on the website http://www.kaustinen.net
In cooperation with the 150th anniversary of Kaustinen municipality