Finnfest2014

Finnfest 2014

Tervetuloa!

This is the second year that I have attended the national Finnish meeting. It was held in the hotel called  the Hyatt Regency on 1300 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Hyatt decor is a contemporary Nordic style. It is  very light, modern, and contemporary in design.

Our first stop to Minneapolis was on Thursday to the Minneapolis Instititute of Art { artsmia.org} to view the Finnish Design room.  Finnish Design is known worldwide for form and function. Fiskers, Nokia, Ittalia glassware, the angry bird app game, and Marimekko clothing design. The museum is spectacular with a large catagory of ancient artifacts and art. A must see if you are in the Minneapolis area.

Opening ceremony was held at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, guest speakers where Ritva Koukku-Ronde, Jaana Palojarvi, Singing Stings, Olli Kortekangas, Sheila Packa, and the Hilja Gronfors musical group. Within the magestic soaring ceilings my sister, Sheila, read a Finnish poem along with all the distinguished speakers.
With a Chautauqua style conference at FinnfestUSA on Friday through Sunday, everyones experience will be different depending on the menu of topics on music, art and design, natural world, indigenous,Nordic, modern, or literature lectures that one selects. This is my view of Finnfest 2014.
On Friday my nephew, Stirling, and I attended " Heavy Metal Music in Finland." It is very popular genre, divided into many subdivisions such as Love Metal, Folk Metal, and the list goes on. Finland has a deep and wide interest in this music style and to this day, in Helsinki, one could catch a few live bands. The band
"HIM "opened the door for bands of Finnish decent to be more recognized.
Then it was on  to Sami knitting.seminar presented by Laura Ricketts. It is a type of fair isle knitting pattern style with white mittens, red trim, or a combination of primary colors in a pattern..Early on the snow tundra, The Nomatic reindeer Sami used reindeer hides for mitts and hats. Later on came the introduction of knitted wear.
 Then it was to view the film, "This Country's not Mine." A documentary on the Finnish gypsy population in the early century. Hilja Gronfors Trio represents their music. Often the Roma people,,, would live in caravans pulled by horses. Often times they were forgotten by the Finnish community so their births, deaths, were not always recorded by the churches, which were the record keepers of the day.

Mark Munger, attorney and District Court Judge and published author, spoke in a seminar "Using Finnish American History in Creative Writing"  in a Friday afternoon seminar .He finds the Finnish culture to be a rich resource for his fiction writing. Suomaiaiset: People of the Marsh, Sukulaiset: The Kindred, The Legacy, Esther's Race are some of his books.

 On Sat. I attended "Intro to the  Kalevala", the  Finnish national epic mythology based on the story of the Kalevala.  an oral epic passed down by song, and played on the kantala, a 5 string musical instrument. In the mid 1800's the oral tradition was translated into written form. The epic tale includes charms, chants, and tales of the birth of earth, strength, and courage. Today there are many interpretations and variations in many languages.

Next it was a question and answer  session highlighting Dr. Arne Vainio, a family physician on the Fond Du Lac reservation. Dr. Vino is part Finnish and part Native American. Dr. Vino  talking about personal identity and his life path before he got his medical degree.
In between lectures, I did some shopping in the Tori{marketplace)....

While shopping I heard talented musicians, Hilja Gronfors Trio, Two Tails, and Diane Jarvi.
Saturday evening I attended the social dance with the band Finnfolk and FinnHall playing.
Sunday I attended a panel discussion on making Finnish cardamom bread.  It included a recipe and a discussion  about Finnish food today in Finland . The panel included two Minnesota State Fair food judges, a food blogger, and a caterer from upper Michigan.
I learned a lot in the three days of Finnish culture. It was like a family reunion but I did meet some new friends, and the sights and sounds of Finland resonated deep in my soul. It is my past ,my present, and my future. Kiitos...Jeanne

  

Finn Fest 2013

A much anticipated vacation this year was a journey by car to Hancock,MI to attend the annual Finnish 4 day festival. As we meandered by car through  a town called Toivola and finally into the upper peninsula and into the copper country of  northern Michigan. Stopping at a grocery store, I discovered Finnish food such as fresh  warm pasties and rhubarb yogurt.  We checked into our dorm room at Finlandia University and dined in the Finlandia Cafe downstairs and had Finnish cuisine as Pork Chops with stuffed green peppers.

The Festival takes place in many places and there is a shuttle bus that drops you off at any location. Many of the classes that I took were at Michigan Technological  University across the bridge in Houghton, Mi. On Thursday I attended a lecture with Lauri Anderson on Writing Memoirs. He is an author of eight books, His first book, Hunting Hemingway's Trout, is the one that I bought in the Tori {marketplace}

The next destination was a lecture of Finnish  Midsummer desserts from  a Finnish chef, Sirpa Welch.  Sirpa serves as an executive chef at the Finnish Consulate in Los Angeles since 1997. Her Rhubarb dessert was a huge hit. But she also added that black licorice ice cream is a food trend  {Finland has there own brand, Panda black licorice, that is soft and favorable.

Visiting the Student Development Center was next and I saw  museum displays on the Kalevala, Finland's national epic poem, crazy quilt demonstrations, rag rug loom weaving, and authentic Laplander mittens. Nordic knitter named Laura Ricketts stashmuffinsloosethreads.com, had lots to display and she used traditional patterns  Her mittens were done in colors of red, white, navy, with traditional Sami patterns. Upstairs was a small War museum on display with clothing, guns, knives, helmets, and military posters, books, and war related articles.

Next was a lecture named, What Everyone Should Know About the Kalevala by Borje Vahamaki, University Of Toronto. The Kalevala is a tradition that was sung orally from person to person, and is consisted of 50 Ruins {50 sections}. The national harp, the Kantala, originally had 5 strings because of the 5 notes of music used in the singing of the  Kalevala.  The Kalevala has many layers of texture. Myths, Magic, Shaman, Adventure,and Christian poetry.

Next Lecture, Titanic: The Unintended Arrival by Gregory Isola explained  the history of the ship builder and that there were 8 second class Finnish passengers on board the Titanic, and 58 3rd class passengers.

There were many more lecture I went to all informative and professional.  Because there is a large variety of lectures, music, dance, and film events, everyone's ethnic  Finn experience will be different.  I also attended an old time lumberjack harmonic music session and  a Sami painter documentary ,Solveig: The Life and Artwork of Solveig Arneng Johnson . In the evening it was time to sample the areas beer craft while learning to do a scottish  folk dance at the Finnish American Heritage Center, which included Finnish theme museum art work www.finlandia.edu/FAHC. Shopping in the marketplace was  fun and I found books, tshirts, and a reindeer crafted necklace.www.crystalcollectreindeer.com