This year's Folk Music Festival is just coming to an end, but Kaustinen is already looking to the future. The next Kaustinen Folk Music Festival will take place on 11-17 July 2016.
Next year, the link between folk dance and folk music will be highlighted. The two are very much soul mates, and the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival has worked hard to make the festival a gathering of folk dance enthusiasts as well as players. Social dancing is also very much part of the spirit of the festival.
The dance is also part of the national celebration of the Year of Folk Dance. In 2016, it will be 150 years since the first folk dance performances were seen in Finland, at the Artists' Association's (Konstnärsgillet) annual party on Runeberg's Day on 5 February 1866.
Other themes of the 2016 celebrations are the Kainuu region and wind instruments. Next year's festival will therefore focus on wind music, from the archaic long-line aesthetic to contemporary horns, from lirios and alpine horns to clarinets and brass. Successful new features from summer 2015, such as the Crete tour and author visits, will also continue.
In 2017, the anniversary year of independence, the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival will be held for the 50th time. The nature of the festival offers uniquely diverse opportunities to celebrate the centenary of Finland, and planning for the centenary year has already begun.
For more information, please contact Hilkka Rauhala, Information Manager, 040-6585340, press@kaustinen.net