Nominees for Ethnogala 2019 have been selected

The nominees in the second edition of the Finnish Ethnogala have been announced. The leading figures in folk music, world music and folk dance will be awarded on the 10th of January at the Ethnogala, which will take place at Tavastia in Helsinki.  

At the Ethnogala, awards will be handed out in seven categories to the most interesting and distinguished figures in folk music, world music and folk dance. One of the categories, Border Breaking Act of the Year, is awarded by Music Finland. The export award goes to an act that has aroused interest in the international music field and demonstrated export-readiness and the nominees are Antti Paalanen, Sväng and Tuuletar

This year the jury members selecting the Border Breaking Act were Alexandra Archetti Stølen (Festival Director of Oslo World, Norway), Simon Broughton (Editor in Chief at Songlines magazine, UK), Tove Djupsjöbacka (Music Journalist, Finland) and Music Finland’s Export Manager Henna Salo.

Other categories in the award gala are: Artist of the Year, Folk Music Creator of the Year, Dance creator of the year, Intersection Award, Newcomer of the Year and Producer of the year. Expert juries have chosen three nominees for each category from submissions from the public. See all the nominees here

Different events around the Ethnogala night

The Ethnogala is part of a larger programme of events called “Riding the Folk Wave Together”, which includes: Ethnogala (January 10), The FolkForum seminar (January 11), The Folklandia cruise (January 11-12) between Helsinki  and Tallinn and The Folklandia afterparty (January 12). 

The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle will record and broadcast the Ethnogala event on its TV, radio and internet channels. The artists performing at the gala will be announced in the beginning of October 2018.

Ethnogala is arranged by the The Promotion Centre for Finnish Folk Music & Folk Dance (KEK). Partners include The Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), the Global Music Centre, Music Finland, Finnish Music Creators, Dance Info Finland, Folklandia Cruise and others.