Summer Festivals in Finland

Cultural life in Finland reaches a fever pitch in the summer months. There are at least 60 regular events belonging to the Finland festivals organization. The Savonlinna Opera Festival is the best known outside of Finland. There will be a rock festival about a km away from our apartment this weekend. As I type there are over 20,000 young multipierced and tattooed Finns, with hair colored every color in the rainbow roaming the streets, attending the concerts, camping at the horse track and standing in line at the ATM machines. Earlier we received a notice from the organizers asking our patience in advance and inviting us to a gathering of people most likely to be annoyed by the event.

It really hasn't troubled us. Last night we drove to Savonlinna to see Tales of Hoffman at the opera festival so we didn't hear one note from the rock festival. There are other music festivals, jazz festival, brass festival, gospel festival, tango festival, chamber music festival, etc. We got tickets to three of the festivals that are within our missionary area.

Last night was our first time ever going to a live opera. It was performed in French and high up on the back wall there was an electronic message board that displayed the text in Finnish and in English. I was struck by how beautiful and romantic the music was and how mundane the majority of the libretto was. The performers came from Finland Russia, Sweden, France, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, and more. The orchestra was excellent. I'm no judge of the singers. I thought they all were wonderful and the audience seemed to think so as well. The setting was the Olavinlinna castle--the oldest medieval castle in Scandanavia. It is on an island and access is by a floating bridge. It was a very inspiring setting. At intermission we were entertained by bats flying overhead--seemed so authentic. The theatre seats 2500. It appeared to be completely filled. I actually have to agree with the festival literature which says: "first-class opera in a romantic, medieval castle amid lake scenery of´supernatural beauty´is a unique and hence unforgettable experience."