The nominees and live acts in the third edition of the Finnish Ethnogala have been announced. The leading figures in folk music, world music and folk dance will be awarded on the 9th of January, 2020 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. 

The category named 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, Johanna Juhola and Maija Kauhanen. This year the winner of the category was Tuuletar.

The jury members selecting the Border Breaking Act were Mika Kauhanen (Music journalist and panel member of the Transglobal World Music Chart, Finland), Patrik Lindgren (Editor in Chief at Lira Music Magazine, Sweden), Ros Rigby (Freelance creative producer and consultant, Co-Founder of Folkworks, UK) 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 Phenomenon of the year. The nominees in each category have been selected by juries consisting of music professionals, based on over 900 submissions from the public. See all the nominees here. 

Helsinki is filled with folk music events during three days

The Ethnogala is part of a larger programme of events called “Riding the Folk Wave Together” in january 2020, which includes: Ethnogala (January 9), The FolkForum seminar (January 10), The Folklandia cruise (January 10–11) between Helsinki and Tallinn, followed with an afterparty in January 11th.

The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle will record and broadcast the Ethnogala event on its online streaming platform, as well as radio and TV. The bands and artists performing at the gala are: Aili Järvelä, ENKEL, Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble, Compañía Kaari & Roni Martin and Amanda Kauranne (see videos from the acts below). 

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.

Watch this year's Ethnogala from Yle Areena.