Mauno Järvelä will play in front of a video camera at his home in the village of Järvelä in Kaustinen on Easter Saturday at 14:00 and invites all music lovers to join him for a great concert - at the same time or to their own tune. Photo by Krista Järvelä
The Kaustinen Folk Music Festival organises an online busking event at Easter under the direction of Mauno Järvelkä, a master pianist. Thousands of players will receive sheet music in advance and can play along from anywhere in the world at 14:00 on Easter Saturday 11 April.
- So next Saturday, you can just grab your own instrument and join the Kaustis-based opening act as Mauno sets the pace live from his home. You can watch the video anytime later. Everyone can film their own playing and share the video or photo with the group for the enjoyment of others," says Anne-Mari Hakamäki, the festival's programme director.
- It is not yet known how the festival will be organised next summer. We will let the public know as soon as we know something for sure. In the meantime, let's meet and greet each other online. We can always play together!
At festivals, busking means that anyone can play alone, with a familiar group or with guests in a quiet corner.
- Last summer, more than 4000 players performed at the festival. We can almost hear each other's playing just by thinking about it. I'm going to participate with my own violin and I'm going to invite the rest of my family to join me," says Hakamäki.
The group also collects memories
The new Facebook group is called My Kaustinen, and you can join it anytime. All friends of Kaustinen are welcome to join the group, and you can also find the sheet music for the Easter concert. Invitations will also be sent by email to those who have played.
The group can share festival memories - stories, photos, videos - or performances filmed at home at any time after Easter. All kinds of musical greetings are welcome.
- We decided to introduce the new topic tags #mycaustic, #minunkaustic and #midtcaustic. They can also be used elsewhere in social media to help us find each other's posts.
If you want, you can also add the tag 1TP5Easter busking to the performances you film at home during Easter.