Preliminary schedule for Juhannus ’18 festival published

Finnish American Folk School is hosting a Juhannus weekend festival that is celebrating Finnish heritage and the communities in Hancock, Toivola and Jacobsville June 22-24, 2018. The Finnish folk band Jepokryddona will headline the area€™s Juhannus celebration.

Juhannus festival will include a two-day Jouhikko building workshop with Alice Margerum, as well as Jouhikko playing workshop with Clare Zuraw, Midsummer pole ceremony, and folk dancing and folk music workshops with Jepokryddona. And of course, traditional lighting of the Juhannus kokko (bonfire) will take place at Agate beach in Toivola Saturday, June 23.

On Sunday, June 24, as a grand finale of the celebrations, Jepokryddona, €œThe Spice Girls of Finland€, will hold a concert in Jacobsville Chapel. As their name, their music is spicy, lively and full of temperament.

There are other program opportunities that are still being scheduled for Juhannus 2018. Professor Wil Rankinen will give a talk on the topic of €œU.P. English€. The site and time of this presentation is not yet determined. This talk is a follow-up to a presentation Rankinen gave last fall as part of Festival Ruska.

Additionally, the members of the City of Hancock€™s Finnish Theme Committee are looking to host a tori during the Juhannus festival, supplementing the offerings of the city€™s outdoor tori and the annual Art Fair on Quincy Green. Anyone interested in having a vendor table at this tori (food vendors are appreciated) can call (906) 487-7549.

For more information go www.finlandia.edu/juhannus or call (906) 487-7549.