Ms Veronica Berg appointed as Development Manager in Umeå, Sweden 

Ms Berg’s role will consist in half of duties related to the Kvarken Council’s activities and in half of executive tasks within Föreningen Norden Västerbotten. In other words, the employment relationship is carried out in cooperation, whereby the post is a full-time position. This also grants the Kvarken Council its first employee on the Swedish side in a long time.

– A representative on the Swedish side has been on the agenda for a long time, and Veronica’s profile is exactly what we’re looking for. She has knowledge of regional and municipal issues, is familiar with politics and its functioning, has an established contact network, and possesses significant social competence. She’s also a motivated team player and will fit in just fine in our organization, says Mr Mathias Lindström, Director of the Kvarken Council.

In terms of Föreningen Norden, Ms Berg will develop the association’s activities in Västerbotten’s municipalities and gather the county’s organizations for increased contact with both Norway and Finland, all under the Board’s direction.

– This full-time position is the long-awaited result of enhanced cooperation between Föreningen Norden and the Kvarken Council and signifies the establishment of an office in Umeå. It’ll be exciting to work with Veronica and jointly strive to improve contact between people in the Nordic countries, continues Mr Sven-Olov Edvinsson, Chairman of Föreningen Norden Västerbotten.

Ms Ida-Maria Huuhka appointed as Communications Assistant

– We run numerous projects and have an active role in the dissemination of information in most of them. In addition, more and more organizations are joining our ranks at a steady pace. We have chosen to increase our communication efforts in order to guarantee transparent and current information about our organization and the projects we’re involved in as well as to more efficiently spread project results and information about our activities.
– The goal is to involve and inform a growing number of people of this interesting and dynamic region, of what’s going on and what we’re working for, tells Ms Johanna Häggman, the Kvarken Council’s Communications Manager.

Ms Huuhka will actively focus on the dissemination of information regarding e.g. Kvarkenfest, the Kvarken Council’s cultural festival celebrating the organization’s 50^th anniversary in 2022. Moreover, Ms Huuhka will be involved in projects and assist the organization with her strengths.

– It’s incredible to get the chance to work for the Kvarken Council. I’ve worked with cross-border projects in the past, but I’m eager to develop my knowledge even further. Communication is close to my heart, and I want to help spread information about the Kvarken Council’s important work, tells the Kokkola-born Ms Huuhka.
The position is located in Vaasa, Finland.

Run to the festival 18.6.2022!

Kvarkenfest is arranged on June 18^th, 2022, at Elisa Stadion in Vaasa on the occasion that the Kvarken Council and the Nordic cooperation across Kvarken turns 50 years in 2022.

The festival is an all-day long, multilingual event spiced with a diverse program. The daytime program is more family-oriented, while the evening is filled with top artist from the region. Besides that, the festival is organised on the same day as Vaasa Run. This means that you can combine benefit and fun – first a refreshing run, then a well-deserved festival experience.

The entrance fee to Kvarkenfest is only 5€ if you book your ticket in advance from Netticket.fi. With this offer, the Kvarken Council wants to offer as many as possible of the regions inhabitants the opportunity to take part of the cultural treasure that we have in the Kvarken region.

An awesome cavalcade of artists both from Sweden and Finland

The Kvarkenfest organisers can now present the festivals main artist Tove Styrke, who origins from Umeå. Styrke is predicted to become the next international pop queen of Sweden, and she’s currently on tour with the world star MARINA in the US and Canada. 

– The artist set-up will soon be ready. It will for sure be a folk festival, and an awesome cavalcade of artists both from Sweden and Finland, says Fredrik Furu, the event coordinator for Kvarkenfest.  

In addition to the pop queen from Umeå Tove Styrke, the Melodifestivalen participant Lisa Miskovsky, the UMK participant BESS, and Elonkerjuu, the pride of the Finnish speaking Ostrobothnia, are few of the new artist reveals that will perform at Kvarkenfest on Saturday 18th of June 2022 at Elisa Stadion in Vaasa. The humour group KAJ, the first Swedish Idol winner Daniel Lindström, and the first Ostrobothnian the Voice of Finland winner Antti Railio, have been released earlier as artists that will perform at the festival.