Press release 16.5.2017
From the very first folk music festivals, Kaustinen has had an international spirit. Every year, the festival has featured a full line-up of foreign guests, from line-up players to international stars. The Nordic countries in particular have always been well represented.
”Foreign folk music and dance can be said to have been an irreplaceable colour in the overall atmosphere of the festival from the very beginning,” Heikki Laitinen described in 1977. The first folk music festival in 1968 brought together performers from Sweden, Hungary and Estonia. This year, Kaustinen will see performers from Scandinavia and the Baltic countries in particular, as well as Fiddler's Bid from the UK, Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards from the USA and Davide Salvado from Spain.
The brightest shining international star is surely the Romanian Taraf de Haidouks, a superstar of Roma music who burst onto the international scene in the 1990s and performed in Kaustinen for the first time shortly afterwards. The band was made up of traditional musicians from the village of Clejani who had never been abroad before their first tour. For 25 years, the band has been steadily renewing itself, with third-generation members now playing in the ranks! Taraf de Haidouks will perform at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival on Thursday 13 July 2017.
Music creates musical bridges
International visitors have been welcomed throughout the ages, and the skills have impressed both sides. Kaustis-based music influencer Mauno Järvelä recalls the guests of the first Folk Music Festival in Taalainmaa, among other things. ”The musicians from Taalainmaa were certainly impressive back then. No one here knew how great the tradition was in Sweden. Sweden has its own chapter in the history of the festival, and over the years we have had many visitors from there who have always returned home and told others about Kaustinen.”
At the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, Järvelä himself has had his first contact with a wide range of musical traditions, including the first time he heard 7/8 time signatures played by traditional musicians. Contacts have been made and guests have been looked after,” Järvelä smiles. ”For example, I remember one bluegrass band from America whose English was difficult for everyone to understand. I drove them around, showed them around and of course we played together. It's always like that! Let's be interested in what others are doing. At least in my opinion, there is a healthy interaction in a traditional festival, no matter where people come from in the world."
Mauno Järvelä has been involved in the creation of the now legendary keyboard games for children, and here too internationalism has been a natural part of the whole. The Kaustinen Folk Music Festival has also seen Nordic and Baltic cooperation. Other visits have been made as far as South Africa. ”I have been a conscious advocate of internationalism. Music makes it so easy to cross the language barrier, especially when you travel the world with children.”
For more information and interview requests:
Head of Information Tove Djupsjöbacka
040-6585340
press(a)kaustinen.net