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You’ve seen the photos, now some video. Below is information and video of the Sami Camp; some video of arts and crafts. Also some traditional Finnish waltzing. Enjoy!
Sami Camp –
The Sami Siida of North America, a loosely organized group of self-identified Sami descendants, has gathered for winter and summer Siidastallens. At FinnFest 2008 the Siida will host a Sami camp at the west end of the DECC near the small Statue of Liberty. The camp will feature a lavvu and reindeer from the Dancing Reindeer Farm, The Dancing Reindeer Farm, is owned by Tom Scheib & Liisa Mayo, Milltown, Wisc. The reindeer have traveled to reindeer exhibitions, parades, festivals, and FinnFests, and have been in movies and commercials. Sami craft demonstrations, lavvus furnished with objects of everyday life, and traditionally dressed Siida members who will answer questions about Sami life, history, and culture. It is a place and time for those of Sami heritage and others interested in the Sami to learn and find fellowship in a welcoming, traditional and educational setting.
I’ve seen TONS of reindeer up in Rovaniemi but watching these in Minnesota was quite fun!
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I recently blogged about Pitsinnypläys (Finnish knitting). You can see some video below about how they make these lace creations. Crazy how long it takes and how detailed it is, but the finished product…beautiful!
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And last, but not least, what’s a Finnish festival without dancing!
On Friday, July 25th, 2008, Tarja Halonen, the president of the republic of Finland became honorary Dr. Tarja Halonen. The ceremony took place at 10am in the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) as part of FinnFest 2008 in Duluth, Minnesota. Below is a photo and video recap of the days events including the music of the Sieur Du Luth Festival Orchestra; a welcome address by UMD Chancellor Kathryn A. Martin; The singing of the Finnish National Anthem (I did not include the U.S. National Anthem but might upload later); The Honor Song; The presentation of Tarja Halonen’s degree; Tarja Halonen’s speech and address to the crowd, followed by the performance of Finlandia conducted by Gaetano Colajanni. Enjoy!
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PHOTOS
Photos From left: 1) waiting outside the DECC for Tarja Halonen; 2) stage prior to Tarja Halonen’s arrival; 3) arrival of Tarja Halonen’s husband and Delegation of the President of the Republic of Finland; 4) The color guard leaving the stage; 5) Performance of the honor song by MA-IIN-GAN singers; 6) Procession of Tarja Halonen to stage
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VIDEOS
Part 1 – Academic Procession of Tarja Halonen to stage
Part 2 – Tarja Halonen walking to stage
Part 3 – Welcome Address
Part 4 – Finnish National Anthem
Part 5 – Introduction of Tarja Halonen
Part 6 – Awarding Tarja Halonen her degree
Part 7 – Tarja Halonen’s Speech
Part 8 – Finlandia performance (part 1)
Performed by Sieur Du Luth Festival Chorus and Orchestra. Conducted by Gaetano Colajanni
Finland performance (part 2)
So, we’re back, unpacked and I’m beginning to upload all photos and videos from the last day of our activities at FinnFest ’08 in Duluth, MN. I know, I know…you all loved the first post that had all those photos and video but I have more media than time in the day to get it all uploaded and posted today. So, please be patient…it will be worth it after a day like today!
Here’s a quick overview of today (day 3) to tide you over.
Our day started with free coffee and pulla which was great. Totally Finnish coffee (yum!) It was great for our wait before Tarja Halonen’s ceremony at the DECC.
I’m in the process of uploading the first video of Tarja Halonen’s event as we speak and should hopefully have the full post ready by tomorrow (there are about 10 videos total so it will take a while:). You can view the full schedule in the meantime- I got it all on video which will be posted hopefully by tomorrow (lots of video so please be patient!). I also got the video of the “Finlandia“ performance by Jean Sibelius (coming soon). Her speech was really good as she focused on her attention to two of her button issues- education and poverty. This was actually the second time I got to see the president of Finland- the first time was in Helsinki last summer.
After the Tarja Halonen event we had three hours to get in as much as possible at FinnFest ’08 before heading out of Duluth. We started at the Food court with a hot dog then a last round through the tori to make sure we had everything we wanted. We grabbed a Marimekko shower curtain from FinnStyle along with some candy. A couple Tupla bars and some TuttiFruitti gummy candies for the road! Then we took in our last sights of the tori. You’ll notice the photo of the Finnish Cookbook below by Beatrice Ojakangas. We REALLY wanted to attend the workshop later today by the author of this book but were unable to coordinate with our check out time. We’re desperately trying to find a one to one ingredient match for some of our dishes and she has written so many Finnish cooking books, including this one that I’ve debated buying forever…but, we’ll have to see if we can get her via email to ask questions.
After the tori, we headed towards the Sami Camp outside and stopped over at the crafts booth. Some really cool things going on in there. For my birthday I received this great bookmark made by my boyfriend’s Aunt in Finland. At the crafts booth today we saw people making these exact things. It’s called Pitsinnypläys (tiny string knitting) and you can see below how they do it (I have a video of her working that I’ll get posted later). Very cool, very precise, takes FOREVER! But, the end result as you can see in the photo on the right is just so beautiful. Mine looks similar to the one below but has two long strings on each side so they stick out of the book. I love it! Again, I’ll let you know when the video is up.
Next to the knitting we saw some other great things as well. Kantele (Finnish string musical instrument- the photo on the right) and other crafts.
So, then it was our last stop- Sami Camp. It was so much fun and the weather was nice so we just got to hang out. The guy running the area was really cool. I was able to recall my Finnish without thinking (which was pretty cool). AND, my boyfriend had a little chat with a Finnish man who not only goes to Rovaniemi (my boyfriend’s hometown) once a year but had photos with him that he showed my boyfriend…small world huh!? Here are some photos from the Sami camp. (Again, I have videos but…I can only post as fast as Youtube will upload them! 
Well, I think that could be it for now. We weren’t able to make it to the Iitala presentation due to our time constraints. And, we finished our day off with ice cream! Drive back was quick and painless and now…I’m at the mercy of internet speeds for getting you some video. Stay tuned…LOTS more to come!!
Tarja Halonen’s husband’s arrival @ FinnFest DECC
Originally uploaded by frozenreindeer
He’s the closest to the inside aisle on the front row.
I. Prelude Concert (going on now)
II. Academic Procession (president comes out)
III. Welcome address (UMD Chancellor)
IV. Republic of Finland National Anthem
V. Presentation of Colors
VI. US National Anthem (yeah!)
VII. Honor Song
VIII. Presentation of Degree
IX. President of Finland’s address
X. Tribute to Republc of Finland
XI. Closing Remarks
XII. Recessional
Then we’re off to get more coffee, food, etc.!
DECC arena seating view 9:20am
Originally uploaded by frozenreindeer
They just announced that they are expecting a full house at Tarja
Halonen’s address.. Long way to go!
DECC arena inside for Tarjs Halonen’s address @ FinnFest
Originally uploaded by frozenreindeer
We’re in and we have great seats to see the stage and the arena
filling up with people. It’s 9:15 so we have about 45 min. Til we
start. Stay tuned!
Outside decc arena FinnFest ’08 Tarja Halonen speech
Originally uploaded by frozenreindeer
It’s 8:30 and the line has started! Secret service has arrived. We
have coffee and pulla! Time to start waiting!
So, it’s our last day at FinnFest 2008 and our last day in Duluth, MN. We’re up bright and early grabbing breakfast then heading over to grab seats for Tarja Halonen’s speech
Fri, 10 – 11 am, President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen,Arena
The President has been invited to FinnFest 2008. A ticket is required for this free event.
Tarja Kaarina Halonen, the President of the Republic of Finland began her first term of office in 2000 and was re-elected in 2006. President Halonen is widely celebrated by Finns as a woman who has risen from modest circumstances with only her own competence to guide her to become the leader of their nation. During her career, President Halonen has paid close attention to issues of human rights, democracy and civil society. Issues concerning social justice and promotion of equality have been central themes throughout her political career. READ MORE
After that, we’ve got a couple hours before we need to check out of our hotel so I’m gonna try to check out something a little “festive” and musical since I haven’t covered much of that (just not in my taste but I understand some readers might like to see, listen, read about some of that. There is a small Kantele performance at 11:15 that I might go take a look which is followed by a presentation on Iittala. Our plates and cups are all Iittala and we just love the design. Very classic Finland.
Fri, 11:30 am, “Iittala: Modern Finnish Design”with Ben Horn of FinnStyle
Meeting Room 203, LECTURE
Finnish manufacturer Iittala remains vibrant and fresh after two centuries of operation. This presentation includes an overview of Iittala and its products in glass, porcelain (Arabia) and stainless steel (Hackman). Examine the company’s extraordinary design talent and enduring product lines. Learn more about a company–and a philosophy–which continue to influence modern design worldwide.
After that, I think we’ll finnish (ha) off the day with another round of coffee and pulla, maybe grab another extremely healthy and good hot dog (well, at least they are good) and some ice cream and head down to check out the Sami Camp activities outside if it doesn’t rain. They have reindeer with them and lots of other cool stuff it looks like.
Sami Camp — Outside (southwest of the Auditorium by the “Statue of Liberty”)
The Sami Siida of North America, a loosely organized group of self-identified Sami descendants, has gathered for winter and summer Siidastallens. At FinnFest 2008 the Siida will host a Sami camp at the west end of the DECC near the small Statue of Liberty. The camp will feature a lavvu and reindeer from the Dancing Reindeer Farm, The Dancing Reindeer Farm, is owned by Tom Scheib & Liisa Mayo, Milltown, Wisc. The reindeer have traveled to reindeer exhibitions, parades, festivals, and FinnFests, and have been in movies and commercials. Sami craft demonstrations, lavvus furnished with objects of everyday life, and traditionally dressed Siida members who will answer questions about Sami life, history, and culture. It is a place and time for those of Sami heritage and others interested in the Sami to learn and find fellowship in a welcoming, traditional and educational setting.
Think that can sum it up for us for FinnFest 2008. I’ll send as many updates as I can throughout the day but most likely look for video posts, etc. later tonight and tomorrow (and on through the next few days).
Been a great visit and we got to see Duluth too which is everything people say it is- absolutely beautiful!
“Survival Finnish” with Larry “Lauri” Saukko
This class will present the basics to get by in Finnish, including “Finnish Pronunciation in Five Minutes”, and how to say things such as “Where is the nearest sauna?” and “Can I borrow your cell phone?” Although spoken in Europe, Finnish is unrelated to most other European languages. Learn what this fascinating language from the land of Nokia is like.
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This was a very fun presentation and it was packed! People lined the walls all the way through the entrance so the doors couldn’t close We basically spent the entire time going through pronunciation of the Finnish language which I was able to capture via video and audio. Below are the clips with pretty good sound quality and the pamphlet to help you follow along and see some of what is being said in the background. Enjoy and I hope you can pick some of it up.
Part 1: pronouncing the double ÖÖ
Part 2: A note on pronouncing the ‘p’ and ‘r’ in Finnish
Part 3: W and two letters together
All I have time for right now…bed time. More later! Happy learning!
