Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Our Favourite Finnish Festival Experiences
Experience the world’s most northerly Irish festival The Irish Festival of Oulu is not just the most northerly Irish festival in the world, but also the premier Irish festival in the Nordics. Comprising a myriad of events from concerts to award-winning theatre and storytelling, as well as various workshops, the festival has earned Oulu the title as ‘the Irish culture mecca of Finland’.
The Chieftans. Photo: Kari Arontie
By Signe Hansen
Founded in 2006, the Irish Festival of Oulu today attracts around 8,000 visitors annually and has hosted performances by some of the top names in Irish music, including the six-time Grammy Award-winning band The Chieftains. The man behind the festival is Irish-American Brent Cassidy, who first came to Oulu as an exchange student in 1997. “The unique thing about this festival is how it brings people together. We’re in northern Finland, but festival visitors experience something culturally unique; it’s like a different place. It’s a really warm and welcoming atmosphere combining Finnish and Irish culture,” he explains. After moving to Oulu, Cassidy soon met one of the pioneering local Irish musicians, Markus Lampela, with whom he and a few
other friends set up an Irish music society. “When I said that I wanted to start an Irish festival, some of my closest friends said that it would never work because we’re so far north. But together with a core group of good friends, I set up the first festival and today, 12 years later, we’re still going strong.” Below: Founder and director of the Irish Festival in Oulu, Brent Cassidy (far right) and his band Droichead. Photo: The Irish Festival of Oulu.
Practical information: Dates: 4-8 October 2017 Highlights of the Irish Festival of Oulu 2017: Altan, Dervish, Clann Mhic Ruairí, Ríanta, and The Man in the Woman’s Shoes (theatre performance). Getting there: One hour by flight or from about six hours by train from Helsinki.
For more information, please visit: www.irish.fi