Etno-Espa Intro 2023

Etno-Espa is back with an inspiring, atmospheric, challenging and danceable ten-day festival presented at Helsinki’s best summer stage, with a genre-fluid musical journey that will traverse time and place. Loimolan Voima will lead us to Suistamo in Border Karelia, and Polenta will be our guides to Kaustinen’s pelimanni beats. Ensemble Gamut! mixes medieval elements with electronic soundscapes, while Tjango! groove their way through old Argentina, the streets of Paris, and our own Ostrobothnia. Composer-bodypercussionist Vilma Talvitie’s compositions are coloured by ethno-pop influences, and singer-songwriter Jutta Rahmel’s enchanting kantele indie tunes invite us to pause and reflect on feelings of longing and inadequateness. The festival will culminate with the Night of the Arts and the collaboration between VILDÁ and Sointi Jazz Orchestra, a unique event where Hildá Länsman’s captivating yoiks, Viivi Maria Saarenkylä’s expressive accordion and Sointi Jazz Orchestra’s breezy and flamboyant style weave together into a previously unheard musical dialogue.