New festival coming to Finlandia this fall

Festival Ruska – Sept. 21-26

Finlandia University’s roots are in Finland, and the university will celebrate those roots this September with an inaugural week-long eclectic event appropriately named Festival Ruska.

In the Copper Country, much like in Finland, September ends with an explosion of color in the forests. This is the season known as ‘ruska’, when the autumnal reds, browns and yellows are especially beautiful on the fells of Lapland and it’s a popular time for folks to get out and enjoy nature. At Festival Ruska, Finlandia University is planning to celebrate the arrival of the Copper Country’s ruska with a variety of cultural activities.

Finnish American Genealogy Day, slated for Saturday, September 26, is the capstone event of the week-long celebration that begins Monday, September 21. Advance registration for the day is encouraged. Programming that day gets under way at 8 a.m. at the Finnish American Heritage Center with registration, and will feature over the course of the day four genealogical experts who will discuss a variety of topics related to Finnish genealogy research, including DNA, Sami genealogy, genealogical resources in Finland, and forensic genealogy techniques. Genealogists from Finland and Minnesota are slated to present.

Registration for the Genealogy Day is $50 per person and includes lunch and break-time refreshments. To sign up, call (906) 487-7347 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. EDT. More details about Genealogy Day will be announced in future issues of the Finnish American Reporter, as well as on social media.

Also on the Festival Ruska schedule is a concert byBaltic Crossing – a folk band led by Finnish fiddler Antti Järvelä – on Tuesday, September 22 at the Calumet Theatre; this concert is part of the band’s first-ever U.S. tour. Members of the group will also conduct workshops during their stay here; those dates are not yet finalized.

Finlandia Foundation Lecturer of the Year Taina Elgwill give a presentation during the festival week, and Finnish-American writer Tim Jollymore is expected to offer an author’s talk and book signing. There will also be an evening dance. Further details about these festival elements will be announced when they are finalized.

For further information about Festival Ruska, call the Finnish American Heritage Center at (906) 487-7302 or (906) 487-7549.