Oulu is Finland’s Irish Culture Mecca
The Irish Festival of Oulu (IFO) is the world’s most northerly Irish cultural festival recognised nationally and internationally for its versatile and inclusive programme of world class traditional Irish music, dance and multi-disciplinary culture events. Since 2006, 104.179 participants from Finland, Europe and USA have attended the festival.
And of course, the festival is known near and far for its warm, friendly and fun atmosphere.
“Lively, warm and welcoming atmosphere amongst friends”
The unique aspect of the IFO is the event’s ability to unite people in an intimate atmosphere celebrating Irish culture events while delivering a memorable authentic cultural experience for a majority Finnish audience. Simply put, the festival performers, audience and staff come together for one long week to celebrate life through Irish music, dance and culture.
IFO is organised by The Irish Music Society of Oulu (IMSO) and is also an official branch of
Comhaltas.
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is a non-profit organisation involved in the preservation and promotion of Irish traditional music. There are hundreds of Comhaltas branches around the world and IMSO is the world’s northern most Comhaltas branch made up of about 30 musicians.
The IFO has been a positive leader in Finland with the advancement of artistic skills, knowledge and opportunities in Irish oral traditional art forms, namely traditional Irish music, dance, storytelling, poetry, film and theatre. We have strived to positively inspire, enhance, empower and develop Irish culture art forms through organising a variety of high level authentic Irish cultural activities. This has resulted in immense cultural opportunities for participants and enthusiasts throughout Finland and the Nordics.
The Irish Music Society of Oulu is a non-profit society promoting Irish music, culture and dance in Oulu since 2006. It is made up of professional musicians, dancers and enthusiasts of Irish culture. We organise year round multidisciplinary art events: traditional Irish music, storytelling, film, cultural presentations, poetry, dance, courses and The Irish Festival of Oulu.
We also work closely with the local and national schools. Since 2004, our Irish music, storytelling and culture performances have reached over 87.000 students in Oulu and Finland.
All students are familiar with the Gaelic phrase tóg é go bóg é and can also sing Óro Sé Do Bheatha ’Bhaile.
Local Scene
Currently, the local scene of musicians have regular monthly traditional Irish music sessions at St. Michael Irish Pub and Hemingway’s Bar and Cafe. There are about 20 musicians playing instruments such as tin whistle, flute, concertina, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, uilleann pipes, accordion, bodhrán, bouzouki, and singers singing in English as well as sean nós style. Additionally, slow sessions are organised in order introduce the genre to newcomers at a relaxed and comfortable pace.
As of 2024, we organise monthly storytelling events as part of our year programme with local Irish storyteller and content creator Aaron Gorman (irishinfinland). These events are entertaining and also encourage the audience and other locals to dig out their old oral stories and tell them. It is the art form of oral tradition and we are trying to revive and celebrate it through storytelling.
The local and national scene of traditional Irish music, dance and culture is active with festivals and events, sessions, dance groups and courses, poetry, storytelling spread throughout Finland from north to south. We at the IFO/IMSO support and collaborate with many organisations sharing in our goals in the promotion and participation in traditional Irish music, dance and culture.
The light is always on and the door open for anyone interested to participate in our events or collaborate in any way, shape or form.
