Vörå goes Basel or When the village brings the sauna to ESC
Special issue

I am just telling this story because it is so much fun. As mentioned in my previous posts Jan Philip Scheibe and I are currently realizing a long term project in the small Finnish-Swedish community Vörå in Ostrobothnia (Finland). The project deals with the importance of rye for the Finnish identity and we are cooperating with the people of the village to make the project happen. The last time we were in Vörå, the entire village had been upside down for weeks because a local band from Vörå had just won the Swedish Melodfestivalen to be send to the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel 2025. The name of the band is KAJ and they call themselves humorgruppen" (comedy band). They usually sing about tractors, the village life and how to spend your Saturday evening in the country side. And now they represent Sweden with a song about the Finnish sauna culture interpreted in their local dialect. On top of that the hosts of our project, Dorothee Schulte-Basta and Peter Lüttge (Abramsgården) came up with the idea to bring a mobile sauna to Basel to support the band. An idea which then came to life with the help of Vörå kommun, the city of Tampere, Finnland-Institut in Deutschland für Kultur, Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft GmbH (gemeinnützig) and many others. With stops in Stockholm, Kopenhagen and Berlin they made it to Basel and are now in town supporting KAJ. Two days ago the band won the semifinals and made it to the finals. We keep our fingers crossed for more!

Yksi kaksi kolme sauna
Bara bada bastu

Fotos: Abramsgården

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