The full cultural programme for the 20th World Village Festival has been published. The event will feature numerous free concerts by top artists, award-winning films, art and activities for the entire family. World Village Festival is the largest cultural and NGO event in Finland.
Saturday’s musical offering includes a performance by Amparanoia, one of Spain’s most popular alternative bands. The group’s vocalist Amparo Sánchez delighted the World Village Festival audience with her pointed lyrics and Latin rhythms for the first time back in 2014. The stage will also feature a mixture of Cuban rumba, Afrobeat and Bangladeshi folk in the form of Lokkhi Terra, performing alongside Afrobeat veteran Dele Sosimi.
On Sunday, the main stage audience will witness a rising star of international music in Turkish singer Gaye Su Akyol. The Guardian named her latest album İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir (Constant Fantasy is Reality) as one of the best world music releases of last year.
Finnish artists slated to appear include Suistamon Sähkö, whose music is infused with electric sounds, lyrics that speak to modern troubles and echoes from Karelia beyond Finland’s borders. The festival will also feature a performance that combines Latin music and Finnish hits as Vili Mustalampi takes the stage.
Award-winning films and all-ages workshops and artistic experiences
The festival’s Village Cinema in On The Rocks will host screenings of seven films dealing with societal issues- Every screening will also be accompanied by a discussion on the topic of the film. Yasuni Man is an award-winning documentary that depicts Ecuador’s last indigenous people to live in wilful isolation and their struggle as they defend their rights against oil companies and the government. Other films include Woman at War, the story of a one-woman climate battle that won both the European Parliament’s LUX Prize as well as the Nordic Council Film Prize in 2018.
The festival will also offer a variety of workshops aimed at the family’s youngest. For example, children will have an opportunity to race on inventor Janne Käpylehto’s electric car track, powered by jumping up and down on floor tiles.
Groups of artists will also perform all around the festival area. Walking around Kaisaniemi Park, you will likely spot the Caracara Collective’s The Living Man – a space in the shape of a giant human head, built from bio waste and mushroom mycelium.
The festival’s factual programme will be announced on 18 April.