Cradle mother Aino Malin every day from dusk till late at night in the Arena's back stage, behind the wall and the gates where the public's eyes don't reach.
- I'm making pancakes, announces Aino. I roll out gallons of dough and, in the best season, fry them in three pans at a time. I make about 12 buckets a week, which makes a thousand fritters.
- It's easy nowadays, as technology has improved," Aino says. We have a real stove in the cot and don't have to use a miserable electric plate as we did in the beginning. And mixing the latkes is like a folk dance with a cordless drill with a paint mixer. And a light for dark nights, Aino points out. The drill was supplied to the crèche by the festival's long-standing head of security Kari Korkala, after a bucketful of dough was hand-kneaded by a beekeeper who had suffered a shoulder injury from the strain.
What is this fettuccine thing?
- The frying of foxes on this scale actually began Antti Järvelän Saturday Sauna some years ago. Antti put together a huge concert at the Arena, where artists performed in a voluntary spirit without pay. They were served in a booth, where one part of the meal was braids. Eggs were and still are From Hanna Järvel organic chicken and other supplies sponsored by Jylhän Topi From Kaustinen K-market.
Nowadays, pancakes are served to the Arena's performers and the technical wizards, stage crew and other hard workers who work long hours there.
- Many artists travelling from afar are visibly delighted when the smell of homey honeysuckle wafts across the air, Aino knows. We want the artists to feel good about the Kaustinen show. This is top service for little money.
Aino Malini's career in Kaustinen began in 1982, when the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) brought more international performers to Kaustinen than usual. A woman with language skills was needed as an interpreter and guide.
- When I first heard the kaustis pelican songs, I knew immediately that this was my thing, Aino says. After a couple of gap years, she returned to work as a guide and interpreter in the late 1990s and that's where we are now. The current job description actually built itself up a few years ago. "I'm particularly happy as a busker. I'm the one who doesn't usually cook in everyday life, Aino wonders.
What's the attraction for Kaustinen?
- Well, yes! Aino thinks for a while. - The happiest days of the summer. A stress-free and fun job. In a festival environment you can get away from everyday life and ”real” work. The people, the work community. Music, which of all the arts touches you the most, it gets into your soul and heart, shakes you up all over the emotional scale.
Reveal yet who the big eater of pancakes is.
- Yes it is Mauno Järvelän, who probably won't have time to eat much else because of the festival rush. One summer, a couple of French boys ate seven fritters apiece. They thanked me as they went.
Festival people 4/6
For the Festival People series Merja Lahti interviewed a few people, each with their own history and perspective on the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival. The series introduces more or less familiar characters that you have met and will meet over the years in Kaustinen.