Kaustinen Folk Music Festival
Encyclopedia
Kaustinen
Kaustinen is a municipality of Finland.It is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, is the biggest folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
festival in the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
. It was first celebrated in 1968.
In its first year, the festival expected 6,000 visitors. The number was over three times the estimate, though. Nowadays the festival lasts nine days and is visited by over 100,000 people. There are over 3,000 performers from Finland and other countries every year.
The festival has a different country theme every year (2003 Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, 2004 multicultural Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, 2005 Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, 2006 Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, 2007 Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
). Every year the festival nominates the Master Folk Musician, the Ensemble of the Year, and Festival Ensembles amongst prominent Finnish folk musicians.
In 2006 Hyperborea
Hyperborea (Finnish folk music group)
Hyperborea is a folk music group, comprising four Finnish musicians. They are:*Piia Kleemola - fiddle, viola, kantele, vocals*Antti Paalanen - accordion*Petri Prauda - cittern, mandolin, bagpipes, vocals...
were nominated as band of the year at the festival.