Finn Fest 2011 - August 10-14 - San Diego, CA

FinnFest 2011

Newsletter

Calling all Finns, Finnish Americans and Friends of Finland:

FinnFest 2011 is almost here!

The City of San Diego has declared August 2011 The Month of Finland – and we are excited to invite you to come and join us in celebrating this beautiful Northern land and its rich cultural heritage.

Held in the heart of San Diego August 10-14, FinnFest 2011 boasts a program jam-packed with events, entertainment and activities, offering something for everyone. Planned with your convenience in mind, most events take place at the Town & Country Resort, located near all major local attractions and the popular Fashion Valley shopping center.

The four main categories of the festival program include Education, Well Being, pioneering Clean Technology, and Arts & Culture. Proudly presented by culinary experts, fashion and beauty industry professionals, artists, musicians, environmental and technology specialists, FinnFest 2011 combines the conventional and the contemporary. Come and find your FinnFest favorites, experience the new generation of performances and exhibitions, visit an authentic Finnish Tori Marketplace, and indulge in Finnish foods and beverages while being entertained by Finnish music across various genres. Fun for the whole family is guaranteed; while parents take to the dance floor, youngsters can meet and greet Moomin characters or even have a go at skateboarding!

As a special guest in the Business Forum, FinnFest is pleased to welcome Rovio, developer of the wireless game Angry Birds, which continues to be the most downloaded iPhone application in numerous international markets. Angry Birds has become a global phenomenon, reinforcing Finland ’s position in the forefront of technological development. The title is currently being expanded across a range of platforms, from different interactive devices to the big screen – with the Angry Birds Rio movie set to hit theaters April 15.

Town & Country Resort is now accepting reservations – be sure to book your accommodation early as the rooms fill up fast during the peak summer season! For more information, you can simply click on the following link and visit our newly refreshed website: http://www.finnfest2011.com

Event registration is now also available online – log on, get your tickets, and be ready to...

We are the champions

We did it! Or actually Finland ’s national hockey team Leijonat -“The Lions”- DID IT. They won the gold medal at the IIHF world hockey championship. They are the champions as well as we all.

Is there any better time to celebrate Finland ? Get your tickets to FinnFest 2011 and book your hotel room from the Town and Country hotel. And you are ready to go!

Top Chef Stefan Richter is preparing Friday night gala dinner at FinnFest 2011. On Saturday August 12th, you can participate in a “meet and greet” with Stefan. He couldn’t be happier and prouder to be a Finn at this moment. When asked what it means to be part of FinnFest 2011, he says:

“We won against Sweden 6 to one. That is enough explanation.”

You can quickly get started planning your time in San Diego by perusing the following tentative program schedule, or go online to get the latest list of events.

Wednesday, August 10

• Opening Ceremony
• California Barbecue & Pool Party - Conga se Menne Entertainment

Thursday, August 11

• Children’s Theater: Santa Claus and Magic Drum
• Musical Theater: Elvis X 3
• Electric kantele concert by Anttu Koistinen
• Choir concert by Walentina Kören
• Classical Music Concert with Folke Gräsbeck, Will Haapaniemi, Mikko Raasakka

Friday, August 12

• Keynote Speaker (TBA)
• Children’s program: Musical scenes from the Moomin Valley
• Theater: Tyrmäys (Knock-out)
• Folk Music Concert with Polka Chicks, Leikarit etc, folk dancing by Pörriäiset and Katirilli Folk Dancing Groups
• Gala Dinner and Marimekko Fashion Show: Celebrity Chef Stefan Richter, hostess Anna Easteden, dancing to the music of Lenni-Kalle Taipale and Sami Pitkämö

Saturday, August 13

• Ballroom Dance Competition
• Golf Tournament
• Gospel Concert with Pekka and Henna Simojoki
• Kantele Concert with Wilho Saari, Merja Soria, Anttu Koistinen and numerous other kantele players
• Modern Dance performance by PunkkiCo
• Musical Theater: Elvis X 3
• Nina Sallinen Theater performance: Poor, Poor Lear
• Finnish Chamber Music concert
• Finnish Rock Concert: Ismo Alanko Teholla and J. Karjalainen

Sunday, August 14

• Celebration Church Services with Archbishop of Finland, Pekka Simojoki music
• Closing Ceremony

Every day: Lectures, cooking demonstrations, Tori marketplace, Art Exhibits

Every night: Poolside Party, Concert and Dancing to tunes of Pirkko Mannola, Vieno Kekkonen, Pekka Pentikäinen, Maria Kizirian, Kaleva All Stars, PasiCats, Tyttökullat, etc.

We recommend that you book your room at the Town & Country Resort, the FinnFest 2011 venue! (See link on the side bar, mention “FinnFest” to get the special deals, starting at $118 per night).

Concert : Kaivama, Finnish-American Band 4/13 at 7:30 p.m. in Berkeley ($15-20)

KAIVAMA: Finnish-American Excavators from Minneapolis, performing Nordic folk music on a West Coast Tour

Wednesday, April 13
Fifth St. Farms
1517 Fifth Street, Berkeley, CA
(between Cedar and Jones) upstairs

Doors open at 7, music at 7:30
$15-20, sliding scale.

All proceeds go to the musicians.

Reservations encouraged to assure a seat: 510 525-9248 or fifthstfarms@gmail.com

http://www.kaivama.com/




PRESS RELEASE

February 16, 2011. For immediate release.

NEW FINNISH-AMERICAN FOLK BAND KAIVAMA TO TOUR WEST COAST

Minneapolis, MN – Violinist Sara Pajunen and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Rundman have teamed up to form a new folk music duo called KAIVAMA. The band is founded on Pajunen and Rundman’s common Finnish ancestry and performs original compositions and inventive and energetic arrangements of traditional folk tunes from the Nordic countries. The name KAIVAMA stems from the Finnish word “kaivaa:” to delve or dig.

Pajunen’s virtuosity on the fiddle and Rundman’s versatility on guitar, harmonium, piano, and banjo allow KAIVAMA to explore a surprising variety of sounds. Excited to represent a new generation of Finnish-American performers, KAIVAMA brings the melodies of their Nordic heritage to fans of modern classical music, bluegrass, and indie rock.

KAIVAMA will tour the West Coast in April in support of their self-titled debut CD.

PERFORAMANCES ARE OPEN TO ALL AGES.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13th, 7PM, $15
Fifth Street Farms Concert Series
1517 Fifth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
Reservations encouraged: 510-525-9248 or fifthstfarms@gmail.com

Performing for the first time less than a year ago, KAIVAMA has been received with great enthusiasm by Nordic communities in America, and by listeners in Finland too. Within a few months of their public debut they were featured on Finland’s national YLE radio network, and have appeared on the Finnish-American television program “Suomi Kutsuu” on WLUC TV 6 in Marquette, MI. Audiences in performance halls to folk festivals to rock clubs are captivated by this youthful duo’s instrumental skill and fresh approach in creating music that is alternately joyous, primitive, experimental, haunting, and time-honored.

In April 2011 KAIVAMA will release their self-titled debut album, containing adventurous interpretations of traditional tunes from Finland as well as original compositions inspired by their ancestry.

Sara Pajunen and Jonathan Rundman are available for interviews and in-studio radio/TV
appearances. To schedule a phone or email interview, please email kaivama@gmail.com or call 612-382-5299.

KAIVAMA biography and hi-res promotional photos and posters are available here:
http://www.sarapajunen.com/kaivama.html. To request additional press material please email kaivama@gmail.com or call 612-382-5299.

KAIVAMA webpage : http://www.kaivama.com
Posters, bio, audio, here: http://www.sarapajunen.com/kaivama.html
YouTube videos here : http://www.youtube.com/user/kaivama
More audio and tour dates at MySpace : http://www.myspace.com/kaivama

KAIVAMA: Finnish-American Excavators
PO Box 24163
Minneapolis, MN 55424-0163
phone: 612-382-5299
Email: kaivama@gmail.com
http://www.kaivama.com

3/15 Finnish Film Series Film : "Miesten Vuoro" ("The Steam of Life")

The Department of Scandinavian and the Finnish Studies Program at UC Berkeley are pleased to present THE STEAM OF LIFE

*Spring 2011 **Finnish Film Series* Next screening on Tuesday 3/15 at 5:30pm



Miesten vuoro (Steam of life, 2010)
-81 min.
-Directed by Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen
-In Finnish with English subtitles

*UC Berkeley Campus, Dwinelle B-4*

What do you get when you combine perspiration, conversation and some taciturn naked men in a heated room, a converted camper trailer or even in a phone booth? A moving document about the purifying ritual of sauna: a place where Finnish men share their intimate life stories, some sad and heartbreaking, some funny and uplifting. Sauna has always played a crucial role in the Finnish culture and it still continues to be not only a relaxing and warming treat but also something sacred and transformative for many Finns.

The aesthetics of the sweaty, bier-bellied, pink bodies may not be the most pleasant but once the steam starts to arise from the hot rocks the flaws of a human body become irrelevant.

Lämpimästi tervetuloa!

AKU ANKKA TURNS 60

AKU ANKKA TURNS 60

The Aku Ankka comic book is celebrating its 60th anniversary of publication in Finland this year, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Who or what is Aku Ankka? Donald Duck, per the late Walt Disney, of course. Aku Ankka has been wildly popular among Finnish kids as well as many (blush) adults for all these decades. Donald Duck is one of America's best good will ambassadors to Finland.

But Donald Duck was introduced to Finnish readers well before the past 60 years. He appeared in a popular Finnish magazine "Seura" as early as the 1930s, only his Finnish name then was "Ankka Lampinen". As a Finn kid growing up at that time in a Finnish immigrant farming community in Massachusetts, my parents and their friends would regulary read Seura and it was at that time I was introduced to Ankka Lampinen, Aku Ankka's earlier predecessor.

Of course, Mickey Mouse was called "Mikki Hiiri" in Finnish comic strips.

But my favorite Disney character is Daffy Duck (Hupsu Ankka?). During election times if I can't stand any of the candidates for a particular political office, I write in the name of "Daffy Duck." I'm not a Mickey Mouse voter. He's too boring.

-- Contributed by Harry Siitonen

Sunday, March 27th - Finlandia Foundation's Performer & Lecturer of the Year

FINLANDIA FOUNDATION SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA CHAPTER PRESENTS

SUNDAY, MARCH 27 at 3 p.m.

SPEND AN AFTERNOON WITH CARK RAHKONEN and WILHO SAARI

First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto
1140 Cowper Street (between Kingsley & Lincoln)

Refreshments will be served

CARL RAHKONEN, Lecturer of the Year

Carl Rahkonen, an ethnomusicologist, using live demonstrations and sound recordings will discuss roots and influences of Finnish and Finnish-American music from earliest forms to the present day.

WILHO SAARI, Performer of the Year

Wilho Saari, distinguished kantele master and composer of over 2,400 pieces, winner of numerous awards and an active teacher, will perform on various sized kantele instruments.

REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED

Please RSVP to Gunnel Pero at (415) 673-3310 OR to Stina Katchadourian at stinakatch@gmail.com by March 23.

• Adults $20
• Students $10
• Pay at the door; cash or check

Mäkäräinen Biathlon World Champ - Another Sports Report By Harry Siitonen

Mäkäräinen biathlon world champ

Kaisa Mäkäräinen, 28, of Joensuu, became the first Finnish woman to have ever won the World Championship biathlon gold when she decisively took first place in the 10K pursuit at the title meet at Hanti-Mansisjk, Russia on March 6. Her cross-couintry skiing time was 30:00.01 and she missed no shots in the shooting stages. Magdalena Neuner of Germany won the silver 21.6 seconds behind but she missed two of her shots. In the 7.5k sprint the day before the Finn had scored a silver medal behind Neuner’s gold. Mäkäräinen’s great showing at the Worlds enabled her to increase her first place lead in the World Cup series which resumes following the Worlds.

Matti Heikkinen’s gold in the men’s 15K classical cross-country at another World Championship venue at Oslo, was the first for Finnish men in 12 years. Finnish men’s XC skiing took a nose-dive for years since the Lahti doping scandals in 2001 in which several Finnish skiiers were disqualified.. Two years ago at the Worlds, Heikkinen, 27, had won a bronze. Finnish men fared quite well at this Oslo race as Sami Jauhojärvi was 5th and Ville Nousiainen 8th.

Finnish women at Oslo did better at the podium than the men. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen picked up a bronze in the women’s classic 10K XC, with Marit Björgen of Norway the winner. Krista Lähteenmäki was 5th, Pirjo Muranen 6th, and Kerttu Niskanen 8th. Saarinen, 32, and Lähteenmäki, 20, combined in the 2x3x1.3km sprint relay to bring Finland the silver behind Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter and Charlotte Kalla. It was Lahteenmäki’s first world championship medal. A Finnish team of Muranen, Saarinen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen and Lähteenmäki scored a bronze in the 4x5 team relays. Norway with Björgen as anchor won the gold, and Sweden anchored by Kalla took the silver.

Peetu Piiroinen, 23, cinched his third successive championship even before the TTR World Snowboard Tour was over, even before the US Open. He had sufficient points so nobody could catch him at this stage. Piiroinen won the silver in the men’s halfpipe at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver behind USA’s Shaun White. Peetu’s younger brother Petja Piiroinen won the Big Air Competition in Aspen recently.

Minna Nikkanen was the only Finn to reach the finals in the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Paris which ended March 6. And she did it in a big way. She ended up tied for 4th in the pole vault and in so doing set a new Finnish national women’s record of 460 centimeters. Not only that she broke her own Finnish record four times in these championships. In her best season so far, she set new records in all her qualifying jumps of 445, 450, and 455. A week before the Worlds she had set an earlier national indoor record of 443. Her outdoor
NR is 446 vaulted in 2009. Poland’s Anna Rogowska, 29, 2009 Summer World Champion at Berlin, won the gold at Paris with an NR of 485. Silke Spiegelburg of Germany was 2nd with 475 and her teammate Kristina Gadschiew was 3rd with 465. Tied with Nikkanen for 4th was Czech PV artist Jirina Ptacnikova with a 460 PB, as well.

Finnish light heavyweight Amin Asikainen’s boxing career ended when he was TKOed in the 11th round of a European Championship bout with Poland’s Piotr Wilczewski at Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena on March 5. A victory might have led the Finn to a world championship match. During his long career, Asikainen briefly held the European middleweight title which he took by defeating Germany’s Sebastian Sylvester in 2006, who defrocked him a year later in a rematch. Asikainen’s professional career included 28 wins and four defeats, the losses coming in the
past few years, several by knockout. He may take up a boxing trainer’s career now that he’s throwing in the towel. In a women’s prelim at Harttwall, Finland’s Eva Wahlström decisioned Britain’s Kristine Shergold in a tough battle to win her 5th pro bout as super featherweight. Jussi Koivula was unanimously voted the winner over Latvia’s Konstansins Sakaran for his 8th pro win without a loss.

– Harry Siitonen

Finnish Parliamentary Election Voting for Patriots & ExPatriots living abroad - Saturday, April 9, from 9 am to 6 pm in Berkeley

Finnish Parliamentary Elections to be held :

Saturday, April 9, from 9 am to 6 pm

at The UFKBAS Finnish Brotherhood Hall
Plan to meet in the Dining Room
1970 Chestnut St Berkeley CA

(at Chestnut & University)

Kaarlo Heiskanen, Irma Järvenpää and Kirsti Bellows will provide the necessary voting materials and equipment. Pullakahvit kavijoille, or coffee & pulla, for voters and their families.

Voters are required to present valid photo identification to the election officer. If you have received the notice of the right to vote please bring it with you as well. Voting is possible also without it. See detailed instructions for advance voting

The Population Registration Center sends to all Finnish citizens whose address is registered in the population information system a notice of their right to vote. Right to vote is based on the information in the system on 25 February 2011 at 24.00

Want to learn more?

• Link to the Candidates Homepages
• View the Parliamentary Rules for Voting Abroad