Finnish Festival, Suomi 100 events & sauna building update

2017 on Suomen itsenäisyyden juhlavuosi ja se tietää tavallista vilkkaampaa vuotta! Voit lukea tässä uutiskirjeessä Suomi-Päivistä, Suomi 100-tapahtumista ja saunan rakennuksesta, joka edistyy kovaa vauhtia juhannusta varten.
HUOM! Olemme lisänneet uutiskirjelistallemme tänä ja/tai viime vuonna Seuran jäsenmaksun maksaneet henkilöt, jotka eivät ole saaneet meiltä uutiskirjeitä tai tiedot ovat muuttuneet. Jos et halua vastaanottaa uutiskirjeitämme (jotka lähetetään noin joka toinen kuukausi), voit peruuttaa tilauksen koska vain 'unsubscribe'-linkistä meilin lopussa.

In 2017 we celebrate the centenary of Finland’s independence. Therefore, this year will be busier than usual! You can read here about the Finnish Festival, Finland 100 events and building of the sauna that is advancing fast for Midsummer.
NOTE: We have added to this newsletter list our members who have paid their membership fee this and/or last year, and who have not received newsletters from us or their contact details have changed. If you do not wish to receive our newsletters (sent more or less bimonthly), you can unsubscribe anytime via the link at the bottom of the email.

Jotta Suomi-Päivät olisivat menestys, tarvitsemme vapaaehtoisia! Kerro meille, jos voit auttaa keittiössä, kentällä tai muutoin ottamalla yhteyttä kisasihteeri Anneliin (yhteystiedot alla).

Tarjoamme myös mahdollisuuden myydä tuotteita Suomi-Päivien aikaan. Jos haluat vuokrata myyntipöydän, ota yhteyttä Anneliin (yhteystiedot alla) – $20 MSS jäsenet, $30 ei-jäsenet. Huom. ruokatuotteita ei voi myydä.

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Traditional annual meeting of Finns in Australia, the Finnish Festival, welcomes everyone to compete in sports and culture, and to enjoy good food, drink and company over the Easter weekend (14^th-16^th April). The Festival will take place in Melbourne, at the Finnish Hall in Altona and its surroundings. It starts with an opening ceremony on Friday 14^th April and the legendary dinner dance is on Saturday 15^th April (read more below). Festival programme can be found here. In addition to the Finnish Festival website, please follow its Facebook page, and the FSM website for more information and updates.

At the heart of the Finnish Festival are the sports and culture competitions, each participant representing one of the Australian Finnish clubs. In culture, there are nine events, including folk dancing, singing, humour and drawing competition for kids. Sports events include baseball, cross-country running, mölkky (Finnish throwing game) and volley ball. Registration for the Festival events has finished apart from golf and a drawing competition for children. The golf registration is open until 17^th of March. Finland 100 themed drawing competition (for 12-year-olds and under) is open until 31st of March. Welcome to support and follow the competitors!

There are also workshops on folk dancing, children's baseball and mölkky that everyone can join in and try these traditional Finnish events. We will receive special Finnish guests as the folk dancing group Hilipakka will join us from Siilinjärvi (eastern Finland; pictured at the top). In addition to dancing workshops, they perform to the Festival guests. They have visited Australia also before and are very excited about coming here again!

The Finnish Festival needs volunteers to make this event a success. Thus, if you can lend a pair of hands in the kitchen, competition timekeeping or elsewhere, please let our festival secretary Anneli know (contact details below)!

We also offer an opportunity to sell goods at the Festival. You can hire a sales table at $20 FSM members, $30 non-members via Anneli (contact details below). Please note that food items cannot be sold at the sales tables.

Suomi-Päivät-komitean yhteystiedot/ Finnish Festival committee contacts:

Puheenjohtaja/ Chair: Jori Tossavainen, ph. 0418 383 753 / tossavainen@bigpond.com
Sihteri/ Secretary: Anneli Jortikka, ph. 0418 524 606 / secretary@fsmelbourne.com.au
Urheilu/ Sports: Mauri Kankaanpää, ph. 0412 328 607 / maurikankaanpaa@bigpond.com
Golf: Matti Pennanen, ph. 0407 777 668 /
matti@virma.com.au

Suomi-Päivien illallistanssit – Finnish Festival Dinner Dance

Monille illallistanssit – lauantaina 15.4. klo 19 alkaen – ovat Suomi-Päivien kohokohta. Mikä onkaan mukavampaa kuin viettää aikaa ystävien kanssa tanssien ja herkutellen! Musiikista vastaa livebändi "Twisted Tango". Perinteisen tangon lisäksi he vievät festivaalivieraat aika- ja musiikkimatkalle Elviksestä Italiaan. Suomen 100-vuotisjuhlan kunniaksi luvassa on myös ruokayllätys. Suomalainen, vastikään ranskalaisesta huippukokkikoulusta valmistunut kokki Jenni Tuominen (kuvassa oik. yllä) tulee Pariisista Australiaan juuri tätä tilaisuutta varten, ja valmistaa 8 ruokalajin sapas-illallisen (suomalaistyylinen tapas). Lipun hinta on $45 ($40 alennettu hinta eläkeläisille ja opiskelijoille) ja sisältää sapas-illallisen, lasin viiniä ja tietysti illan tanssit. Voit ostaa lipun etukäteen netin kautta (TryBooking) tai Suomi-talolta Kimmolta/ ovelta.

Voit lukea lisää Jenni Tuomisesta Ylen joulukuussa tekemästä jutusta.

For many the highlight of the Finnish Festival is the dinner dance on Saturday 15th April starting at 7pm. Is there anything better than spending time with your friends dancing and eating good food? The music is provided by a live band "Twisted Tango" and they will take the festival guests on a musical journey from Elvis to classic tango. To celebrate Finland's 100 years of independence there will also be a food surprise. Finnish chef Jenni Tuominen, who has recently graduated from a top chef school in France (pictured above on the right), comes from Paris to Australia especially for this event and will prepare an 8-course dinner of 'sapas' (Finnish style tapas). Tickets are $45 ($40 concession for pensioners and students) and include sapas dinner with a glass of wine and a night of fun. Tickets can be purchased in advance online (TryBooking) or from the Finnish Hall from Kimmo/ at the door.

The Embassy of Finland in Canberra has put together a list of all the events across Australia celebrating Finland’s centenary year of independence on their website. Finnish Society of Melbourne’s events are included in this list, mark those dates in your calendar! The biggest events in Melbourne are the Finnish Festival, Midsummer BBQ and sauna opening as well as the Independence Day Gala Dinner. The Suomi 100 committee is also planning a poster installation of the history of Finland and Finnish migration to Australia. Details will appear on our website closer to the events.

Sauna committee informed members of the sauna project details at the end of last year via electronic newsletter and at the Finnish Hall. After receiving the building permit, the sauna project started swiftly. The tree in the backyard of the caretaker Kimmo had to make way for the sauna at the first working bee in January. In February, new plumbing was installed and concrete slab was moulded. The sauna will be officially opened at our Midsummer event. Welcome then to “löyly”!

Maaliskuun uutiskirje – March newsletter

Tervetuloa 51. Suomi-Päiville/ Welcome to the 51st Finnish Festival!

Suomi 100-ohjelma Australiassa/ Finland 100 program in Australia

Saunanrakennuspäivitys/ Sauna building update