Riddu Riđđu

Riddu Riđđu

Riddu Riđđu festival in 2007.
Status Active
Genre Music Festival
Date(s) Mid July
Begins 8 July 2015
Ends 12 July 2015
Frequency Annually
Location(s) Kåfjord, Troms
Country Norway
Years active 1991 – present
Website
www.riddu.no

Riddu Riđđu is an annual Sami music and culture festival held in Olmmáivággi (Manndalen) in the Gáivuotna (Kåfjord) municipality in Norway. The goal of the festival is to bring forward both Sami culture and that of other indigenous peoples. Translated to English, the name of the festival is "small storm at the coast". The festival has permanent support from the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs, the Sami parliament, Troms county and Kåfjord municipality.[1]

Ánde Somby from Vajas joiking at the festival in 2007
Mari Boine performing at the festival in 2006

Riddu Riđđu includes concerts, seminars, performances, youth camp, stage art, literature, children's program, Northern People's program, youth camp, film program, courses (workshops), art exhibition, market (bazaar), indigenous houses and much more. The festival had its 20th anniversary in 2011.

The 24rd festival will be held between 8 and 12 July 2015.

History

The festival was launched by a group of young Sami on New Year's Eve 1991 at Olmmáivággi (Norwegian: Manndalen). This was a decade after the Sami cultural revitalization started. Before that time, the Norwegian government attempted to assimilate the indigenous Sami into the Norwegian majority population. In Olmmáivággi almost all of the previously majority Sami population now considered themselves as Norwegian.

During the 1990s, the anti-Sami movement was especially strong in the area with Sami road-signs being shot to pieces and families being split. A group of youth started to ask questions such as: "Why did they [the Norwegian government] take away from us the Sami language? Why do we hide our sea-Sami identity and culture? Why are we ashamed [of being Sami]?" This started a Sami youth organization that among other things organized the Riddu Riđđu festival.[2][3]

The first festival was arranged in 1991 and has since been arranged annually. In 1998, the Riddu Riđđu Searvi organization was established and has since been responsible for arranging the festival.

References

  1. ↑ "Riddu Riddu International". VisitNorway.com. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  2. ↑ "Riddu Riđđu". NorwayFestivals.com. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  3. ↑ "Om festivalen" (in Norwegian). Riddu.no. Retrieved 2015-04-26.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Riddu Riđđu.

Coordinates: 69°31′30″N 20°31′44″E / 69.52500°N 20.52889°E