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| 9.00 | Exhibition
of Equipment and a Fire Fighting demonstration Venue: Ikaalinen Fire Station | Admission: Free |
| 10.00 | The celebration
of the fire department at the Festival Park representing
the history and present-day of Vanha Kauppala and the villages. Music
by Kyröskoski Voluntary Fire Department Orchestra. Venue: Festival Park | Admission: Free |
| 11.00 | Church
Service Venue: Ikaalinen church | Admission: Free |
| 12.30 | Ikaalinen
Day Coffee Venue: The Yellow School next to the Festival Park | Admission: Free |
| 13.00 Reviewed Below |
Closing
Ceremony of the Sata-Häme Soi Accordion Festival
both Finnish and foreign artists and the winners of the accordion competitions
2004. The festival speaker is Prime Minister of Finland - Matti Vanhanen. Venue: Festival Park | Admission: Free |
| 15.00 | The Land
of Happiness the premiere of the summer theatre
production. Venue: Ikaalinen Spa Open Air Theatre | Admission: 14 € / 7 € |
| Closing Ceremony of the Sata-Häme Soi Accordion Festival |
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| After some periods
of heavy rain during the week, brilliant sunshine greeted the large crowd
gathered in Festival Park for the Closing Ceremony. The festival speaker
was the Prime Minister of Finland - Matti Vanhanen. In addition, several of the guests from the weeks concerts performed, and a special award was given to Mika Väyrynen for his outstanding contributions to the development of the accordion in Finland. The festival is covered here in a pictoral essay. |
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Prime
Minister Matti Vanhanen receiving a present from festival organizer
Minna Kulmala and right, the Prime Minister giving his keynote speech.
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The Finnish
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen giving his speech and afterwards being
thanked by festival organizer Minna Kulmala. |
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The Tocatta
Accordion Orchestra from Sorbrance, Slovakia
Directed by Juraj Libera |
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The Bryac
Quartet from Ukraine performing, and afterwards being
photographed with the festival organizers. |
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CIA Coupe
Mondiale Champions Aleksei Peresidly and Nikolai Sivchuk
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Silver
Accordion Champion Juuso Vesterinen
Golden Accordion Champion Kaisa Kujanpää Aleksei Peresidly and Nikolai Sivchuk with the Finnish Prime Minister |
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Festival
director Minna Kulmala and Music Director Kimmo Mattila gave thanks
to all who had helped make the festival possible. They presented awards
to people who had helped considerably during the festival by volunteering
their time and effort to make sure the event went smoothly.
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Mika
Väyrynen
receiving his award from Ikaalinen, Festival Director Minna Kulmala
Sata-Häme Soi Festival Organizers: Minna Kulmala (Director) Kimmo Mattila (Musical Director) Minna Plihtari (Public Relations Manager) with Accordions Worldwide reporter, Kevin Friedrich |
| Festival Staff Party and Celebration |
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The
local Ikaalinen group "Hätävara"
formed by local musicans both students and teachers, celebrated the
release of their new CD by performing for the Sata-Häme
Soi Festival Staff Party.
Band members are Esa Härmä, Kristiina Ihalainen, Heli Oksanen, Saana Sillanpää, Laura Tamminen, Pipsa Tuominen and Ville Mattila (son of festival music director Kimmo Mattila.) |
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 Visiting
artists from the Ukraine the 'Bryac Quartet' got the party rolling and
had everyone on their feet for their impromptu performance of modern
dance numbers.This party was a great opportunity to let the organizers thank the many staff for their hard work, as well as let the staff themselves that had worked so hard over the course of the festival to relax and enjoy the evening. The celebration was held at the popular Oma Tupa. After a buffet dinner, the guests enjoyed dancing the night away with both the local staff and international guests. |
| In and Around Ikaalinen |
 Finland's
Nature Symbols: Six national 'nature symbols' have been chosen for
Finland by popular vote and all the symbols carry powerful connotations
of popular tradition, stretching back to ancient times. They were only officially chosen in the 1980s and '90s, however, so one cannot claim they are based on any formal tradition. The aim in choosing the symbols is to draw attention to Finnish nature and wildlife and to promote appreciation of them. Symbol Number 6: The brown Bear - Ursus Arctos, is a creature of the wilds which has adapted easily to life with people. Bears are very seldom sighted, but many bears may see people every day! I am happy I didn't see one in person, but this lovely wooden carving at the Ikaalinen Street Festival gives you a idea of what it might be like to encounter one! |
 Nordic
Walking has established itself as a popular Finnish excercise, combining
power walking with the use of ski poles. Last
year there were plenty of roller bladers using ski poles, but now it seems
Nordic Walking has become a popular form of excercise. |
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