FinnFest USA Facebook
A Detroit statue, garbed – thanks to computer magic – in a FinnFest T-shirt when the festival was in that city in 2019
You don’t have to be Finnish-American to enjoy FinnFest USA, but if you are a Finn, this multi-day event is an immersion into your heritage past, present and future. As organizers of the annual event say, “More than a festival, it’s a way of life.”
In the past, this annual event has traveled each year to a different location from Maine to Oregon, Florida to Alaska – but after a three-year hiatus, it’s returning this year with plans to settle permanently in Duluth. The last festival was in 2019 in Detroit.
The festival dates, July 26-30, are important if you plan to attend, but also if you don’t. Should that be a weekend to visit the Twin Ports, you need to book your rooms well in advance. For the 2008 festival in Duluth, about 10,000 people attended all or some of the fest.
FinnFest USA dates back to 1982 when Tauri Aaltio, executive director of Finland Society in Helsinki, Finland, hosted a meeting in Minneapolis with representatives of 39 Finnish-American organizations from across the USA. Those attending decided to
FinnFest USA Facebook
A theater troupe from Joensuu, Finland, performing in Minneapolis at the 2017 FinnFest USA.
create a national summer gathering. FinnFest USA is now a non-profit organization that creates an event that informs and celebrates historic and contemporary Finnish-American culture, including this country’s ties to Finland, according to K. Marianne Wargelin. She has served as president of FinnFest USA since 2004 and impressively and instantly remembers details from past festivals, such as individual ties to Finland and the when and where of Finnish presidential visits – all emphasizing the importance of the gathering to the broader community.
It features music, food, lectures and panels – a chance to learn more about Finland and Finnish America.
The tori (marketplace) forms the festival’s hub. As organizers say, “It is a commercial center, an information center, and a Town Square.” Dozens of vendors with Finnish and Finnish-inspired products attend, plus there is music and other entertainment. This year’s tori, free for all, will be set up in the DECC’s Pioneer Hall. The tori will run from noon July 27 through noon July 30.
Before deciding to set down roots in Duluth, FinnFest USA has been hosted several times in our Big Lake region, no doubt because of the strong Finnish and Scandinavian immigrant presence here. In its 40 years, the twin cities of Hancock and Houghton, Mich., have hosted three times, Sault Ste. Marie once and Marquette and Duluth twice each.
This year most of the activity will center at the DECC, but off-shoot events are planned for places like Pizza Lucé, Fitger’s and Zeitgeist, all on Superior Street. Attendees – and you do not need to be Finnish – can register in advance for day or multi-day passes or can purchase day passes on site or can simply attend individual events for a fee.
If you don’t plan on making it to the FinnFest USA, you can still make this the year you seek out a Finnish flavor to your trip to the Big Lake neighborhood. You can find sauna (sow-na) stores around the Lake as well as sauna product sellers and lodgings offering saunas on site. For stuff to put into your own sauna – and we’re name dropping just a few – try Finnport and Finn Origins, both in Thunder Bay. In Minnesota, there is Irma’s Finland House in Virginia and Irene’s Favorite Things in Park Rapids. Marquette has a Touch of Finland. Or visit North Wind Books in Hancock for a book with Moomins (you have to look them up) or to the Finnish American Heritage Center. These are just a small sampler of Finnish-related stores and programs.
Visit FinnFest.us or the FinnFest USA Facebook page.
