Past Events in 2023 by FFNCC and Friends of FFNCC
Event: Finnish Christmas Party
When: Saturday, December 16th
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Location: Faith Lutheran Church;
3313 Arlington Blvd Arlington, VA 22201
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Time: 11 am - 1 pm
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Meet Jollupukki and celebrate Christmas with us! Jointly sponsored by Finnspark and Suomikoulu.
Event: Finnish Pre-Independence Day Celebration
When: Monday, December 4th
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Location: Chef Mikko's;
1636 R St. NW Wash, DC
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Time: 5 pm - close
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Come celebrate Finnish Independence Day a few days early! No RSVP required.
Event: Finn Spark Christmas Bazaar
When: Saturday, November 18th
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Location: River Road Unitarian Church
Bethesda, MD
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Time: 11 - 3 pm
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Come celebrate Finnish culture with delicious cuisine and a Christmas market!
Event: FFNCC Hockey Night
When: Saturday, November 4th
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Location: Caps Game at Capital One Arena
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Time: 7 pm, DC pre-game warm-up with FFNCC friends at 4:30 at the Irish Channel.
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Root for the Caps or (AND) the Finns on the Columbus Blue Jackets!
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Sign Up:
https://forms.gle/BxDhLSRJowcbxhZH8
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Cost: Just $49 per ticket!
Event: "Sisu" Movie Night
When: Saturday, October 21st
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Location: Chubby Squirrel Brewing,
Fairfax, VA
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Time: 5:30 - 8 pm
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Come join us for a Finn-sponsored beer and movie night!
Event Details:
Chubby Squirrel is a Finnish owned pub in our local Northern VA area. Join us for "Sisu," a riveting Finnish action film (Rated R).
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Event: Picnic & Fishing Competition
When: Sunday, October 1st, 2023
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Location: Lake Fairfax Park, Reston, VA
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Time: 12 - 3 pm
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Join us for a Finnish style picnic afternoon with food, games and fishing!
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Event Details:
We will reserve sausages and mustard for everybody, and the grill will stay hot.
There will be fishing (under 16-year-olds do not need a fishing license) on the beach of the lake.
If you have fishing gear, bring it along, but we will also have some rods and lures available for children.
We will also play the Finnish Mölkky game, and you will have a chance to meet other Finns, Finnish Americans, and friends of Finland.
Schedule:
3:00 Children's Games
(Prizes) and Maypole decoration
3:45 Welcome
3:50 Maypole Procession
4:00 Dancing round the Maypole
4:45 Picnic Dinner
Event: Midsommar Celebration
When: Sunday, June 25, 2023
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Location: Carderock Picnic Pavilion, Maryland
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Time: 3 - 6 pm
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Join us for children’s games, live music, and ring dances around the Maypole.
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Event: A Trip to Sail on The Kalmar Nyckel
When: Saturday, May 13th, 10am - 5:30pm
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Anticipate cost:
approximately $80 per person,
including the bus and sail
We hope you can help us make this trip a reality!
The Kalmar Nyckel was a Swedish ship that carried Swedish – and the first Finnish – settlers to North America in 1638. Today’s Kalmar Nyckel, the official Tall Ship of Delaware, is a modern replica of the original launched in 1997 and built by the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation (KNF). The KNF owns and operates the ship, which is docked on Wilmington’s historic waterfront, just yards from the original ship’s landing site.
Event: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
When: Monday, May 8th, 8pm
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Location: The Kennedy Center
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Anticipate cost:
30 - 110$
To buy tickets: https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/classical-music/2022-2023/helsinki-philharmonic/
Finland’s foremost orchestra celebrates favorite composers of its homeland
Founded in 1882, the highly regarded Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO) has the distinction of having premiered most of the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s symphonies, with the composer himself conducting. That is in fact the case for the Symphony No. 2, featured on this program and called “a confession of the soul” by the composer—although many Finns of the day interpreted the work as a call for national independence. Under the baton of the renowned Susanna Mälkki, a Helsinki native named Musical America’s “Conductor of the Year” for 2017, the HPO also performs Sibelius’s “Lemminkäinen’s Return,” the concluding movement of the composer’s Lemminkäinen Suite (Op. 22), based on the exploits of a Finnish mythic hero. Completing the program, the HPO looks to Finland’s most renowned contemporary composer, Kaija Saariaho, with a performance of her flute concerto L’Aile du songe (“Wing of the Dream”), featuring soloist Claire Chase, a MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient praised as “the North Star of her instrument’s ever-expanding universe” (New York Times).
Event: Walpurgis Night (Valborgsmässoafton)
Sponsored by: The American Scandinavian Association, Drott Lodge and SWEA
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When: Saturday, April 29th, 2:00pm - 6:30pm
Rain Date (Sunday, April 30th, same time)
Location: Normans Farm, 1580 Woodbine Road,
Woodbine, MD, 21797
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Anticipate cost:
free for members of ASA, Drott Lodge and SWEA
and it is $5/person for non-members.
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Sign up via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/walpurgis-night-valborgsmassoafton-tickets-601852315477
Plenty of parking available. Wheelchair accessible.
Everyone must sign a Waiver of Liability upon entry to the event.
We say goodbye to winter and hello to spring and summer. This is an outdoor event with games, singing and a bonfire. Bring chairs/blankets, your own picnic, and drinks. There will be a grill available if you wish to grill a hotdog or two.
Event: Finlandia Foundation National Capital Chapter's Annual Kalevala Day Celebration
When: Friday, March 17th, 6:30pm - 10:30pm
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Location: Embassy of Finland
3301 Massachusetts Ave, Washington DC 20008
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Tickets: Sold Out! $60 per person
Limited number of tickets available!
Payment required COB Tuesday March 14.
Concert, Dinner, and Silent Auction
The Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year
Ida Metsberg will be performing
About the performer: Ida was born in Finland and is now at home in New York City. She’s from a family of musicians, and began studying classical piano at seven. She has a background in musical theater; her professional career in performing began with the role of Martha Cox in High School Musical for Helsinki City Theatre in 2008. Ida graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, but while studying musical theater, a composition class helped her to realize that she wanted to focus on telling her own stories through her own music.
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Ida blends pop and folk with intelligent, thoughtful structure and lyrics that are honest and resonate with audiences, whether she is singing about life, love, family, heartbreak, joy or every day observations and experiences.
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Ida has performed all over New York City, including at well-established venues such as Webster Hall, Caffe Vivaldi, Rockwood Music Hall, Bar9, Kasteli Café, Shrine and Silvana. She has completed a residency at Silvana in Harlem, and has a monthly children’s singalong at Scandinavia House in Manhattan.
Concert, Dinner, and Silent Auction
Event: FFNCC Pizza and Movie Night ; “Road North”
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When: Saturday, February 25th, 5:30pm
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Location: The Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church
6201 Washington Blvd., Arlington, VA
Closest Metro station - East Falls Church, Orange Line
Tickets: Tickets at the door will be
$10.00 for members
$15.00 for non-members
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Pizza and soft drinks will be served.
Starring Vesa-Matti Loiri, Samuli Edelmann, Mari Perankoski, Irina Björkland and Peter Franzén; and directed by Mika Kaurismäki. The film tells the story of a father who had abandoned his family, surprising his concert pianist son after 35 years of absence—and the getting-to-know-you adventures they experience during the road trip they embark on.
For a description of the film, go to https://corinthfilms.com/films/road-north/.
You can find a review at https://www.screendaily.com/road-north/5046347.article.
The film is rated 18+.
Event: Musical play; THE TWENTIES, Remembering Bix Beiderbecke, a cornet player
Produced by member of FFNCC, Donald Vierimaa, written and composed by his brother Jay Alexander
When:
Friday, January 20 (7:30 P.M.)
Saturday, January 21 (2 pm and 7:30 p.m.)
Friday, January 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Saturday, January 28 (2 pm and 7:30 p.m.)
The doors open one-half hour before the performance
Tickets at the door are only $15, and under 16 free
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Location: James Lee Community Theater,
2855 Annandale Road in Falls Church, VA near Highway 50 (Arlington Blvd)
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This musical is placed in the 1920s and contains fun facts, historical events, drama, comedy and six new original songs. The musical is written around the legendary jazz cornet player, Bix Beiderbecke. Four professional actors/singers will entertain you, and a narrator will educate you with facts about the 1920s.