Samuelin Poloneesi
Folk music festival 2028
Samuelin Poloneesi is the biggest annual event of Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto ry. It travels around Finland and brings several hundred folk musicians together every year. The programme covers the whole current range of folk music, from boundary-breaking young bands to traditional folk musician groups and individual masters.
An important part of the main concert is the joint performance, where several hundred folk musicians play the event's namesake tune and the year's common tunes together. Their theme is the folk music of the hosting region.
2027 is a gap year for Samuelin Poloneesi. The Poloneesi will next be played in the Helsinki metropolitan area in spring 2028, celebrating the 60th anniversary year of Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto ry, in cooperation with Uudenmaan Kansanmusiikkiyhdistys.
Organiser:
Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto ry
Partners: member associations of Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto ry, host cities
More information:
toimisto@kansanmusiikkiliitto.fi
Samuelin Poloneesi on social media:
www.facebook.com/samuelinpoloneesi
The history of Samuelin Poloneesi
Samuelin Poloneesi, a tune from the oldest Finnish sheet music book containing folk music, dating from 1809, has given its name to a national folk music event held since 1972.
For the first ten years the Poloneesi was played at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki. In 1982 the Poloneesi began travelling to the regions, returning to Helsinki every third or fifth year. Samuelin Poloneesi has so far been held in the following towns: Lahti (1982), Oulu (1983), Lappeenranta (1984), Tampere (1985), Helsinki (1986), Kuopio (1987), Jyväskylä (1988), Turku (1989), Seinäjoki (1990), Helsinki (1991), Iisalmi (1992), Kuusankoski (1993), Pori (1994), Tampere (1995), Helsinki (1996), Oulu (1997) and Helsinki (1998), Jyväskylä (1999), Helsinki (2000), Seinäjoki (2001), Helsinki (2002), Kuopio (2003), Salo (2004), Helsinki (2005), Joensuu (2006), Rovaniemi (2007), Pori (2008), Helsinki (2009), Kaustinen (2010), Savonlinna (2011), Helsinki (2012), Hamina (2013), Rauma (2014), Helsinki (2015), Kokkola (2016), Kuopio (2017), Helsinki (2018), Oulu (2019). Tampere (2020, livestreamed as part of the SottisiMoves event), Helsinki (2021, livestreamed), the 50th-anniversary event in Turku in 2023 (2022 was cancelled due to COVID-19), Helsinki (2024), Haparanda-Tornio (2025).