The first virtual World Village Festival in history was organized this weekend. The event gathered nearly 5 000 individual visitors online, the logistics ran smoothly, the atmosphere was cheerful and there were no disturbances. The visitor count is expected to increase substantially during this week, as nearly all programme numbers can still be viewed free of charge until midnight on Friday. As was expected, one of the audience’s favorite acts was one of the brightest domestic stars, SANNI.
The festival performers from around the world all underscored one particular shared message: we must break out of our silos and come together to find solutions to global challenges. We have to respect and listen to each other, even if we don’t always agree on everything. The actions of every single individual matter in the quest to build a more sustainable future.
– The festival weekend was a great success. The programme numbers and technical aspects worked flawlessly, and the visitors have been excited to share their experiences through the festival platform’s chat and on social media. The performers have also been very happy with the festival, says World Village Festival’s Communications Manager, Nelli Korpi.
Some comments that the visitors shared online include the following:
“I’m singing as loud as I can, Sanni, I wish you could hear it!!”
“I’m going to rewatch this immediately, it was so wonderful!”
“You can experience the festival atmosphere at home too.”
“I’m so glad I found my way here. Amazing people all around.”
“An inspiring programme number – thank you to all the speakers!”
There was more than enough audience for all programme numbers
The virtual festival weekend gathered a large audience in front of computers, tablets, TV-screens and mobile devices. There was plenty of audience for all programme numbers, even though the weather would have been perfect for an outdoor festival. Each discussion had around 100–200 single audience members, music shows around 150–500, and films 50–150. The exhibitor booths interested the audience as well.
– We are very happy with the approximately 5 000 single visitor count that the festival reached during the weekend. It is also likely that people have been viewing the programme together with friends and family members, which means that the actual viewer count is somewhat larger. We will receive more information about the actual audience count through a visitor survey after this week.
The festival continues for another five days
The festival programme can be viewed during this week, until midnight on Friday. Only the workshops were accessible just on the festival weekend, and the films have a total limit of 500 viewers per film. The festival platform is accessible through the festival main page and all programmes are free of charge.
– Many participants were bummed that they weren’t able to view everything, and people were very pleased about the opportunity to continue accessing and enjoying the programme during the week after the actual festival, Korpi continues.
The recordings from the music shows and speech programme as well as documentary films are excellent content to show during the last week of school, and the kids’ programme is great content for daycares and for smaller school children.
Please fill out the festival Visitor Survey. We will randomly select 20 winners who will receive a product package. The survey is open until 7 June 2021.
You can also join the festival spirit through the festival’s social media channels or the Flickr photo gallery. The images can be freely used by the media in articles and coverage related to the festival. Please remember to include the photographer’s name if you use these images.
Sign in to use the virtual festival platform through maailmakylassa.fi -front page. All programme numbers are free of charge. Participation requires only your email address.
The event is organized by Finnish Development NGOs Fingo, which is an umbrella organization for approximately 300 development organizations. The main partners of the festival are the Helsinki Federation of Parishes, Ministry of Environment, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, European Commission in Finland, European Parliament Information Office in Finland and Maailman Kuvalehti -magazine.
For more information
Nelli Korpi, Communications Manager, nelli.korpi@fingo.fi, +358 50 317 6698
Flickr image gallery (all images can be used by the media)
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