Estonishing Estonia

In the Viljandi Castle Hills lies the newly renovated old storehouse where the Estonian Traditional Music Centre (ETMC)is based. The aim of ETMC is to promote traditional music in and outside Estonia. ETMC also organises the annual Viljandi Folk Music Festival. Set at 150 km from Tallinn, Estonia’s cultural capital has a long history of old traditions and music. It is also home to the Viljandi Culture Academy Traditional Music Department which was founded in 1991. The Viljandi Folk Music Festival and Estonian Traditional Music Center were initiated by the first class students of this academy.

Fifteen artistic directors of the EFWMF network gathered for the annual member meeting during the Harvest Fest organised at the halls of ETCM. The program varied from folk song arrangements by Latvia’s postfolk leader ILGI to Ro:Toro, Estonian public’s bagpipe-favourites. Svjata Vatra, with Ukrainian frontman Ruslan Trochynskyi (Haydamaky), is by far the most energetic band on the stage. Alexey Archipovskiy the most eccentric. This balalaika-specialist merges several genres into an eclectic set showering everyone with emotions, for better or worse.

For the shoe-shuffling aficionados Estonia’s brilliant fusion group Paabel does the trick. Dancing in group is alive and kicking!!

And there is more to enjoy in Estonia. The country is filled with beautiful forests and natural parks of which Soomaa Natural Park is one of the youngest and largest in the country. The territory is covered with large mires, dunes, paludified forests and flood plain grasslands. 
On our excursion a fairy godmother welcomed us after a two hour walk with local delicacies and cranberry juices.

And in the evenings we cut loose in the local sauna with vodka and felt truly ‘estonishing’ when we jumped in the fresh forest lake.

EFWMF’s travelling member meetings are intended to offer insights in local cultures and establish contacts between festivals organisers and the host country’s’ music communities. Thanks to the efforts of ETMC the member meeting in Estonia provided plenty of both.

Winner of the new EFWMF-logo competition: NEDA FIRFOVA

Neda Firfova is a graphic designer based in The Netherlands and Japan. She is establishing her practice as a designer through her current design research conducted at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, Netherlands. She pursued her MA at the Graphic Design Department of Tama Art University in Tokyo, Japan in 2009. She graduated in Visual Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Skopje in 2005.  

She has been involved in designing installations that invite typographic interventions from audiences or collaborators, and other projects that involve interactive approaches to typography, book design or graphic design in general. Her work has been exhibited internationally: The Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia etc.
She works mainly for cultural and art institutions. Her clients include: press to exit project space, Upgrade!International and Skopje Jazz Festival. In 2010 she co-founded No Wonder Studio.

www.nedafirfova.com  

(the 2011 celebration year will start at Womex 2010)  

10, it's a magic number

Ireland's Festival of World Cultures had much to commemorate this July, kicking off with an aerial photo shoot of a giant human-pixel number 10, it celebrated its 10^th anniversary festival by adopting the International Charter for Compassion. Its latest initiative, Radio Hemisphere; the festival’s own live internet radio station, was launched to capture the last of an era, as Sunday’s press call bid farewell to its creator and Director Jody Ackland.
Over its 10 year life, the festival has received a Taoiseach Award (Irish Prime Minister Award) for its social integration and environmental policies and has been rated by Songlines Magazine as a ‘Top 25 International Festival. With the moving on of its founding Director, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, the festival’s governing body, are to commence a period of strategic development, a process whose outcomes will determine the future of the festival.  “So much has been achieved, from collaborations to training models, audience figures have peaked at 250,000 and we attract some of the world’s greatest artists, so of course I hope that this model is sustained, but it is time to hand on the baton. It has been a kaleidoscopic journey and an honour to have been part of this unique and visionary event” says Ackland. 
The Festival is currently being administered by the Arts Office of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council who will announce details of the next Festival of World Cultures in December. See www.festivalofworldcultures.com

This years line up featured over 300 acts including: Rokia Traore, Khaled, Mahala Rai Banda, Calypso Rose, Amiina, Astrid Hadad, Tanya Tagaq, Adjagas, Iarla O Lionaird, Jah Wobble & The Nippon Dub Ensemble, Donal Lunny, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Lunasa, Orchestra Poly Rythmo de Cotonou, Ayub Ogada

EFWMF Networking Meeting @ Womex

Friday 15:00 – 16:00
Conference 3
European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals (EFWMF) Networking Meeting 

The global festival network meets for the second time @ WOMEX

At WOMEX 2009 the EFWMF organised a meeting with other festival networks. An informal presentation and exchange session resulted in an interesting meeting with various international colleagues. And these meetings carried on at AWME in Melbourne (Australia), the Mercado Cultural in Cartagena, (Colombia) and also at Babel Med in Marseille (France). 

One year later we wish to continue this exchange and hope old participants come back with new info and that new participants join us.

The EFWMF is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2011 and will be present at WOMEX 2010 at stand 215 to 217. 

2 decades of worldwide music festivals

In 2011 the European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The network started as a small club of enthusiastic festival organisers and has now become one of the driving forces of the European  and Global World Music scene.

The EFWMF gathers an eclectic but adventurous group that is crucial in introducing new acts and projects for a European audience. The network has recently opened up to the rest of the world, challenging the opportunities that a true global collaboration brings. Members from Asia, the Pacific, Africa and Latin America are opening new horizons for the EFWMF.

Watch the website for celebration news!  www.efwmf.org