Fagerkulla Folk was filled with energy, moments of stillness, music, dancing, and beautiful encounters this year! Looking back, I can honestly say that in many ways, the festival achieved its goals even better than I could ever have imagined. And now it’s time to say thank you.

Thank you to all the wonderful performers, musicians, and dancers! On Saturday alone, we enjoyed a total of 18 performances, held two dance workshops, and ended the day by dancing and playing together in a lively huuto-katrilli. A huge thank you to Kataja and to the wonderful and wonderfully encouraging Jari Haavisto for leading the dances and getting everyone involved. On top of all this, we ventured down the gnome trail three times, guided by Hedvig Heinäselkä. (The trail was created by Kirsi Jaatinen and library gnome Hannu Vuorjoki — thank you!)

An incredible variety of programme fit into a single day, and the age range of the performers was wonderfully broad as well. Thank you for all the skill, courage, and sense of community you brought to the festival. Some of the groups also performed at Sunday’s concert at Pakari, part of the Karkkila Workers’ Museum, which was a beautiful way to round off the two-day festival.

The programme was full of local flavour from Western Uusimaa, but we were also delighted to welcome guests from all over Finland — and even all the way from Japan. It was incredibly inspiring to hear the artistry of these visiting top professionals in folk music.

Thank you to Musapaahtimo / Hannu Lamminmäki for the sound system and mixing. Thank you to Risto Kaisla for the delicious soup that kept us going well into the evening. And thank you to all the food vendors and café operators!

A huge thank you to all our partners. The festival was sponsored and made possible by World in a Box, Musiikin edistämissäätiö, the City of Karkkila, and Suur-Seudun Osuuskauppa SSO. Our partner Einbus arranged bus transportation to the festival.

The Ikkala Village Association was an invaluable help in making the festival happen. The tents and audience area came together in the blink of an eye, and volunteers could be found helping with traffic control, security, ticket sales, and so much more. Thank you also to all the wonderful volunteers who travelled from further away to join us in creating the festival.

I am truly grateful that such a large group of people came together to bring this perhaps slightly crazy vision to life: a folk music festival here in beautiful Ikkala and Karkkila, with the ambition of making the world a little better through music, community, and shared experiences.

And finally, thank you to our wonderful audience for your active participation. Thank you for coming, and thank you for all the feedback you have shared with us!