Finland’s jazz festivals heat up the Nordic summer

Jarrett Iovine — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:01:58 +0000

Finland’s brief but glorious summer is the jazz festival season in this Nordic nation. Many music fans will be surprised to learn that Finland has a thriving jazz music scene, and a number of festivals with impressive line-ups are scheduled at cities throughout the country.It will be another bumper crop of jazz festivals this summer, according to the Helsinki Times, especially in July and August. These two months are the pinnacle of the Finnish summer so there’s literally something happening every weekend during this period.

This year’s events feature a nice mix of homegrown Nordic talent with some of the greatest international names in the world of jazz. The Pori Jazz Festival (July 11-19) will feature soul legend Booker T Jones as the headliner at Finland’s biggest and most popular event of its kind. Last year saw more than 120,000 fans flock to the west coast town of Pori for the music. Pori has been a hotbed for local Finnish jazz since the 1960s.

The Jazz-Epsa Festival (July 6-31) in Helsinki will help the capital’s workers unwind after a day in the office, as jazz concerts are offered every weekday afternoon in the city centre. Suommenlinna’s Viapori Jazz Festival (August 26-29) will showcase Finnish talent like “nu-jazz” trumpet player Verneri Pohjola.

Outside of the capital, the Linna Jazz Festival (July 9-12) delivers the swing to Hameenlinna, and Raahe’s Jazz on the Beach (July 23-25) blends the sea with the sounds of popular Finn ensemble The Five Corners Quintet.

(Photo/Suomijazz.com)

Finland won’t sign off on cluster bomb treaty

Erlingur — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:07:56 +0000

Although 20 member states of the European Union signed a landmark treaty in Oslo banning the use of cluster bombs, one surprising holdout was Finland. The Nordic nation has been extremely vocal in its opposition to the ban, claiming that it still needs to keep cluster munitions in its arsenal to help properly defend its 1,300km border with Russia.

Seven other EU members did not sign the treaty either, including big names like France and the UK. Speaking to Radio Netherlands, Miriam Struyck of the Dutch NGO NKV Pax Christi alluded to Finland’s lingering fears over its more powerful neighbour, Russia, especially after the August conflict with Georgia.

The Finns seem to understand the ineffectiveness of cluster bombs, especially since they can just as easily kill Finnish soldiers on the battlefield. Yet Laura Lodinius of the Finnish Peace Union says that the Finns still feel safer having cluster munitions on hand.

This is not the first time Finland has rejected international disarmament treaties, however. It originally refused to sign the Ottawa ban on landmines over the same fears concerning its long border with Russia. It has since signed off on the landmine ban, but sees cluster munitions as its last defensive resort.

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Finland’s jazz festivals heat up the Nordic summer

Finland won’t sign off on cluster bomb treaty