History
Irene Poutanen
In the mid-1980s the Vaasa Developing Country Association came up with the idea of presenting civil society activities through organising a so called Markets of Possibilities involving many different organisations. These events soon spread throughout the country.
In 1995 the first fully-fledged World Village Festival grew out of the Markets of Possibilities held in Helsinki. The festival was held in alternate years with the Markets of Possibilities until 2005, when the Markets became part of the annual festivals. The World Village festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2009 in Helsinki.
2009
Kaisaniemi Park and Railway Square 23.-24.5.2009
In 2009 the festival was organised for the tenth time. Due to a rainy Saturday there were less visitors but the newly incorporated area of the Railway Square made sure that around 65 000 people enjoyed the festival. There was a record-breaking number of exhibitors, around 400.
The main theme of the factual programme was climate change. Calls after the binding domestic, European and global agreements were made in the panel discussion ”Finland and climate politics”, featuring among others Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. The theme was further discussed in other factual programmes. The Globbyists of KEPA awarded those members of parliament who had made most effort on defending development aid and fair trade politics.
The main stage featured Colombian La-33, Ghorwane from Mozambique, Malinese Terakaft, as well as Peruvian Novalima, who later performed a surprise gig at the Sunday evening club. Finnish artists Eino Grön, Jippu, Fat Beat Sound System and the kids' favourite Jytäjyrsijät took their audiences. Monsoon stage featured La Casa Bancale from France and Finnish Reino & The Rhinos, Maritta Kuula with Nartana dance group and harmonica maestros Sväng. Saturday's club, organised in cooperation with Funky Elephant Festival, was a major success, featuring Canadian The Soul Jazz Orchestra and Up, Bustle & Out from the UK.
The festival area played host to art installations during the festival. The Cuban wall installation and artist Otto Karvonen´s light sign installation both focused onthe climate theme. A record-breaking number of side events were organised, featuring among others the Ten Times World Village Festival photo exhibition arranged at Lasipalatsi Square, Festa Mocambicana at Tavastia club and an exhibition of Cuban modern art and a panel discussion on the same topic in the Gallery Oksasenkatu 11.
2008
Kaisaniemi 24 – May, 2008
A record number of visitors came to the 2008 World Village Festival. In addition to the diverse music and other programmes, the weather was splendid all weekend. KEPA's theme at the festival was the globbyists' "Tiedä mitä tankkaat" (or, "Know what you're pumping") - biofuel campaign. It raised awareness of the effects of plant-based fuel on food prices and poverty. In addition to KEPA, there were almost 300 other exhibitors presenting their activities.
The main musical act was singer Barbara Hendricks, also a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. She has been living in Stockholm since 1993. The world famous star's performance blended jazz and classical music. Other crowd magnets were, among others, Suurlähettiläät, Värttinä, Dissidenten and the festival's final act, the Malinese-French Mamani Keita & Nicolas Repac.
2007
Kaisaniemi, 26 – 27, 2007
In 2007 the World Village Festival had over 100 performances and over 300 displays. Even the rain on Saturday didn't affect the number of visitors, as a sunny Sunday helped fill the park. Climate change was this year's theme, and was discussed, for example, in a panel discussion organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Two stages were built in Kaisaniemi exclusively for music this year, with both foreign and Finnish top artists alternating on them. The biggest crowd magnets were the multicultural Ska Cubano, the genuinely Finnish Kari Tapio, the Peruvian La Sarita, and Dirty Babylon Breaker from France. The audience also enjoyed folk music played by Swedish-Finnish Gjallarhorn, The Valkyrians' ska, and il Murran's traditional Maasai music from Kenya.
2006
Kaisaniemi, 27 – 28 May, 2006
The seventh World Village Festival was held in Kaisaniemi park, the Railway Square, and the International Cultural Centre Caisa. Music, art, activities, world views and possibilities from four different continents were all there to be sampled. Volunteer work was especially kept in mind, without which it would not be possible to organise the World Village Festival for the pleasure of Helsinki dwellers and visitors.
The headliners included Nepathya, whose performance was organised by the Finland-Nepal Friendship Association, and Don Johnson Big Band, one of Finland's top rhythm music groups. The Wycliffe Bible Translators invited the James Lhomi Group, also from Nepal, who performed in Caisa. La Kinky Beat from Spain warmed up their audience, as did the Vietnamese saxophonist Dac Thien Quyen with Trio Töykeät, and the Indian- English bhagra rock band Kissmet. The Finnish Paukkumaissi entertained children and child-minded adults.
2005
Kaisaniemi, 28 – 29 May, 2005
By 2005, ten years had passed since the first World Village Festival. In celebration of this, the festival became an annual event. This year was environmentally themed, which was represented by the massive tent set up in the Railway Square. It housed an Amazonas exhibition, and environmental organisations arranged their displays around it. The festival's programme content concerning serious societal matters increased greatly.
Over 100 groups performed this year. Popular international artists were the Spanish Cheb Balowski, the Chilean reggae band Gondwana, the Somalian-English Maryam Mursal and the Senegalese hip hop group Bogostyle. Among Finnish artists were Värttinä, Kimmo Pohjonen Kluster, Jonna Tervomaa. Such vocalists as Paula Vesala, Mariko, Emma Salokoski, Tidjan and Olavi Uusivirta performed cover classics as part of Kymppiorkka, a group formed especially for this year's festival.
2003
Kaisaniemi, 17 – 18 May, 2003
Food was the major theme at the fifth World Village Festival in 2003. Food may be taken for granted by people living in Finland, but KEPA and its member organisations recognise that millions of people do not have access to this most basic necessity. KEPA and its member organisations launched a food security campaign in 2001. On-going until 2005, its goal was to purge hunger from the world. The festival had a Food World tent, serving fairly produced food from Finland and elsewhere.
Los Cumbancheros from Cuba, the South African hip-hop group Black Noise, and Sembe from Guinea performed at this year's festival. Daimohk, the Chechen Children's Dance Ensemble, put on a wonderful show – despite the miserable and dangerous situation in their country, the group made it to the Village and delighted festival-goers. Finnish performers included Katri Helena, Mariska, Bomfunk MC’s and Maija Vilkkumaa. A national bicycling week was also started during the festival.
2001
Kaisaniemi, 26 – 27 May, 2001
Kaisaniemi Park had become the established festival location by the time the fourth World Village came to town, hosting international artists from visual, performance and theatre backgrounds. The festival's focus was on food and development cooperation. Names were collected for a petition in favour of raising appropriations for development cooperation in Finland. The petition was also signed by many of the festival's performers.
Foreign artists included the Siberian throat singing band Yat-Kha, Galaxy from Senegal, Orquesta Caribe from Cuba, and Jamaican ska music veterans The Skatelites. Cliche, Tasavallan Presidentti, Mari Rantasila, Piirpauke, Kwan and Apulanta were the weekend's Finnish musical entertainment. Ultra Bra, who had performed at all the first four festivals, gave their last World Village performance before breaking up later in the same year.
1999
Kaisaniemi, 29 – 30 May,1999
The World Village Festival returned to Kaisaniemi Park in 1999 with more visitors than in previous years. The festival's main theme was clearly the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which aimed to cancel third world debt. The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission also held its first Jubilee mass at the festival.
Many international artists came from Africa. Two African women, Busi Balongo from South Africa, and Sally Nyolo from Cameroon gave great performances. Also visiting the Village were Casa de Cultura, a ten-person youth dance theatre company from Mozambique, and the Cuban group Klimax. The eclectic Finnish music programme offered everything from Eino Grön to Eläkeläiset. Pauli Hanhiniemi & Perunateatteri, Ultra Bra and Pohjannaula did their share to keep standards high.
1997
Helsinki Aurora Field, 24 – 25 May, 1997
The second World Village Festival took place in the Helsinki Aurora Field and at the VR warehouses in 1997. The festival relocated because its organisers and the Kaisaniemi Tigers (a Finnish baseball team, which played at the Super League level for a few years) couldn't reach a consensus about the use of the field in Kaisaniemi Park. Organising the festival in a new place was a challenge, but nine stages were erected nevertheless.
The festival themes for 1997 were the ever-current issues of human rights, tolerance and multiculturalism. They were visible in the choice of artists, performances and other activities. The Nigerian author and human rights activist Ken-Saro Wiwa, killed in October 1995, was commemorated at the 1997 festival. Femi Kuti's band The Positive Force, continuing the tradition of father Fela Kuti's activism and afrobeat, gave a performance which raised awareness about Nigeria's dire human rights situation.
The Indian-English Pardesi Bhangra Music Machine, together with Third World, a reggae band and recipient of the UN Peace Medal, were also memorable international performers at the festival. Dozens of Finnish artists performed once more, including world-famous stars like HIM and The 69 Eyes, as well as the original Tuomari Nurmio and the street-wise Giant Robot.
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1995
Kaisaniemi, 20 - 21 May, 1995
The World Village Festival made an impressive debut in 1995, when over 150 NGOs and some 100 performers gathered in Kaisaniemi, Helsinki. Tens of thousands of people visited the festival during the weekend. An event combining culture and social activism was clearly in demand.
The festival immediately became a summer kick-off event. Holding the festival in late May complemented the Markets of Possibilities schedule-wise, because the former happening was essentially built around the latter. The first festival was arranged as a one-time occasion, as the main event of the Council of Europe's anti-racism campaign in Finland. The Service Center for Development Cooperation KEPA was also celebrating its 10th anniversary the same year.
Because a new festival has to stand out from the rest, the artist line-up was particularly impressive. Musicians, such as the Jamaican reggae legend Black Uhuru, the U.S. funk/pop/hip hop group Defunkt, and Kardo from Kurdistan, got the crowd moving. Finnish favourites included The Rasmus, who were just starting their musical career, Kerkko Koskinen Ensemble (later known as Ultra Bra), Angelin tytöt, Ismo Alanko, M.A. Numminen and Pelle Miljoona & Rockers.
