Mikkeli Music Festival

This year the renowned Mikkeli Music Festival is deriving inspiration from legends.

Mikkeli is a lively small town by the lake Saimaa, and it has beautiful old manors, numerous destinations of nature, and an interesting history as the wartime headquarter city to offer. It is also the holiday capital of Finland – there are over 29 000 cottages in the region! Mikkeli is easily accessible by car or train from Helsinki – either way, the trip takes 2,5 hours.

Most of the concerts are held in Mikaeli Concert Hall, which is 1.5 kilometers from Mikkeli train station or Market Square.

City hotel: Original Hotel Vaakuna (1.5 kilometers to Mikaeli Concert Hall)

Holiday resorts:  Sahanlahti Resort in Puumala or PihlasResort in Joroinen (c. 1 hr drive to Mikaeli Concert Hall)

Immersive nature stay: Uhkua in Ristiina (c. 1 hr drive to Mikaeli Concert Hall)

Authentic Finnish cabin life: Kaidan Kiho in Ristiina (c. 20 min drive to Mikaeli Concert Hall)

Manor B&B or cabins: Löytö Manor in Ristiina (c. 20 min drive to Mikaeli Concert Hall)

Day 2: Thursday August 7 – Manors, gardens and nature

Lunch and shopping in a unique historical vicarage, beautiful nature walk in a Saimaa UNESCO Geopark location, and fine local gastronomy. Sibelius’ Kullervo by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kenkävero old vicarage is a versatile, year-round tourist attraction only a short walk from the center of Mikkeli. In the historical milieu you will find the beautifully restored main vicarage, now a restaurant serving local food and delicacies, an excellent bakery, a lake side café, Santa’s summer hideaway, as well as several shops with a variety of Finnish handicrafts, design, souvenirs, decorations, and local produce. In the summertime Kenkävero also hosts various exhibitions, events, and pop-up shops, not to mention lush blooming gardens with some farm animals.

After a delicious lunch and shopping head over across the street to Mikkeli Park and take a stroll in the Saimaa Central Park. A 20-minute walk takes you to Urpola Nature Center, one of the Saimaa UNESCO Geopark centers with an interactive Geopark Showroom showcasing the unique geological character of the Saimaa area. In the surrounding area beautiful walking trails guide you through scenic forests and past lakes and rivers, the Finnish nature that inspired the composer Jean Sibelius to write many of his masterpieces.

Before the evening’s concert, there is still time to savor a fine meal.

Tertti Manor is a farm with owned by the same family since the late 1800’s. In the stunning old manor house, you can enjoy a local gastronomy at its best with fresh, local ingredients in historical surroundings. Their cuisine is based on pure, local ingredients, mostly self-grown or wild from the surrounding nature. Make sure to check out their cellar full of self-harvested and preserved produce and hear fascinating stories of the life at the manor house from years gone by.

There are also five cozy hotel rooms.

After the dinner it is time to head over to Mikkelin pitäjänkirkko, one of the largest wooden churches in Finland. It was built in 1817 and has seating for up to 1900 people. In this beautiful setting the London Philharmonic Orchestra will perform ‘Kullervo’ by Jean Sibelius, the large-scale, five-part work composed to the text of the Finnish epic Kalevala. The piece depicts the life of antihero Kullervo, from his youth through his warlike deeds and ultimately to his death. J.R.R. Tolkien found great inspiration in Kullervo. According to Tolkien, in his books the fictional character Túrin Turambar is mainly based on Kullervo.

Day 3: Friday August 8 – Ancient mysteries of Lake Saimaa

Nature and ancient history are the stuff of legends, and both come together in the Astuvansalmi rock paintings. Day out on the water with good food and an authentic sauna experience. Sprinkle with historical sites as there are many to choose from in this area.

Mikkeli region has been inhabited since thousands of years. In Ristiina, a short drive from Mikkeli, the Astuvansalmi rock paintings offer a window to the life of our forefathers.

Astuvansalmi rock paintings can be dated based on Lake Saimaa’s history. At its highest, the lake’s surface level was around 10-10.5 meters above the current water level. Before the formation of Vuoksi River, only the paintings on the upmost part of the rock would have been above water. After a thousand years, the surface level had fallen sufficiently to reveal the rock terrace in front of the paintings. The rock paintings at Astuvansalmi date back to approximately 4000-2200 BCE. The painting area is the largest in the Nordic Countries.

The site, best viewed from water, exudes peace of nature. The rock resembles the profile of a sleeping person, like a sleeping giant god, which probably made the rock a sacred cult site. The mystery of Astuvan Ukko, “the old man of Astuva”, is enhanced by the strange echo reflecting from the rock cavern as you approach it from the lake. Archeologists have found an ancient amber pendant carved in resemblance of the old man of Astuva and other objects in the bottom of the lake in front of the site, possibly offerings to the god.

The Astuvansalmi rock paintings can be accessed by boat with a guide. Uhkua organizes guided trips to the site. Once out on Lake Saimaa, let Uhkua take you on a small island in the middle of the lake where they will cook lunch on an open fire while you can try to spot a Saimaa ringed seal, an endangered species only living in Lake Saimaa.

After a day out on the water you can seal the authentic Saimaa experience at Uhkua with an evening sauna, and a dip in the lake. For Finns the sauna at its best is a sacred experience. Sit in silence as water hisses on the hot stones, and feel the steam embrace you. And when the heat becomes too much, dash outside and jump into the fresh water of the lake. Afterward, as you sit on the terrace of the sauna surrounded by nature, you will feel purified inside and out. Euphoria guaranteed.

Uhkua also has raft accommodation to complete the perfect immersion into nature.

Other historical sites, that can be visited in Ristiina include the first military academy (?) of Finland. It was founded in 1777 by Georg Magnus Sprengtporten and has been recently restored. Also, the Finnish declaration of independence was drafted by  Finnish linguist E.N. Setälä in 1917 at his  Kallioniemi villa in the vicinity of the Astuvansalmi rock paintings. And the Pien-Toijola Open-Air Museum close by is a nationally significant rural cultural environment. It is a farm that has belonged to the same family since 1672 and gives you rare insight into how people in Finland lived in the past.

Day 4: Saturday August 9 – the Kalevala

The national epic as the inspiration for an epic saga by Tolkien. Lunch and visit to the beautiful and historical Sahanlahti, with an eco-boat trip in the Puumala archipelago with legendary Arto. Music of the movie Lord of the Rings by London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kalevala, the Finnish epic, is a compilation of epic poetry from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. In Tuukkala, just outside of the city, visit the site where archeological excavations have unearthed ancient graves and objects from the Iron and early Middle Ages. Amongst these objects were pieces of jewelry.

In the 1930s, Elsa Heporauta, a teacher, author and humanist from Sahanlahti in Puumala, an hour’s drive from Mikkeli, and a group of socially active women wanted to bring the beauty of our ancestors’ jewelry within the reach of today’s women. They founded the Kalevalan women’s association to strengthen the legacy of Kalevala and the standing of the women in the Finnish society. They launched a line of jewelry modeled after the Tuukkala archeological findings to collect money for their cause. The Kalevala jewelry was a great success and has been producing the beloved line of jewelry ever since.

Elsa Heporauta’s birthplace, Sahanlahti, a former sawmill community, is now a holiday resort. A beautiful location in Puumala on the Lake Saimaa with high-end accommodation, excellent food and many activities. The luxurious Elsanranta villas, named after Elsa, are each themed after characters in the Kalevala – each villa even has a copy of the Kalevala.

If you have some time, Arto from Lakeland GTE will happily take you on a cruise with his electric eco-boat to show you the Puumala archipelago and tell you about the lake Saimaa and its fascinating ecosystem and species, including the Saimaa Ringed Seal.

In the evening, it is time to head over to Mikaeli, the concert hall of Mikkeli, for the musical journey to Middle-Earth in form of a symphonic suite from the music of the movie The Lord of the Rings by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The Lord of the Rings saga is one of the most legendary stories of the 20th century. The works reflect Tolkien’s deep interest in languages, as well as Nordic mythology and Anglo-Saxon epic poetry.

Day 5: Sunday August 10 – Legends live on

Legends old and new emerging from the arts. Visual arts in Mäntyharju in a historical milieu. Mozart’s Requiem by London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Great legends live on in the arts – and new legends are created.

Spend a day in the Art Center Salmela in Mäntyharju, the largest visual arts festival in Finland.

Their annual exhibition showcases visual art by recognized veterans of modern Finnish art as well as young, upcoming talent. The setting for the exhibits is a stunning and historically significant cultural milieu. A mid-19th century parish house functions as the main gallery. Across the water, the exhibit continues in a lovingly restored old apothecary, postal office, and auxiliary buildings that offer a peek into the residential and commercial history of the area.

As the summer’s day winds down, return to Mikkelin Pitäjänkirkko church to wrap up the legendary voyage by one of the most legendary composers of them all, Mozart, as the London Philharmonic Orchestra perform the iconic Requiem. This work is one of the composer’s most beloved pieces. Mozart was working on the Requiem at the time of his death, and it was completed posthumously by his students.