Theme and first artist release
Marja Mortensson writes to the district court Førdefestivalen 2025. Photo: Jørn Kristensen
Music & language will be the theme at the 35th. Førdefestivalen , which will take place from 2 to 6 July 2025. – Music and language belong together. Using your own language is not just a language choice, it is often also a cultural address label that says something about where we belong. We hear the same thing in music. In the past, more than now, folk music was people's musical mother tongue, says Sølvi Lien, director of Førdefestivalen . The theme is relevant in a world that seems dark and troubled. People are seeking a return to the original and safe. Then both folk music and language are important. Many people find new homelands and use song to remember their native language. Song is also a good way to learn new languages.
Universal language
Music is a universal language that communicates across all borders and barriers. On Førdefestivalen the audience gets to listen to music they have never heard before and sing in languages they do not understand. Yet the music speaks to them and tells stories from all over the world. -This has been the backbone of the festival for 35 years, and we know that many people come because they experience this unifying power of folk music, says the festival director.
Sami assembly for the first time
The Tingingsverket at this year's Førdefestival will be written by Marja Mortensson . -Marja Mortensson is one of our most sought-after and respected Sami artists today and uses music in the fight to preserve the Southern Sami language, which is severely threatened, says the festival director, who thinks it's great to have a Sami Tingingsverket for the first time in Førde . As an artist, Marja Mortensson wants to make a difference, linguistically, culturally, informatively. She wants to be an inspiration and provide a wider selection of music and lyrics in Southern Sami. -I have used music and still use music to further develop my own language, says Marja Mortensson. -For me, it is as if the melody in a joik is something everyone, regardless of background, can feel, take in and understand on a deeper level.
Marja Mortensson - Photo: Jørn Kristensen
Whoever knew it knew
The Tingingsverket has been given the title Jaevrie-gaske - the land between two seas. Marja Mortensson explains the title as follows: If the right recipient heard the message, the message could be passed on. The messages were not meant for other people's ears. They had to be cleverly wrapped in the right words. The way of performing the yoik or verse was a completely unique style. Whoever knew it knew. - The yoik is the language of feelings, it is genuine and heartfelt. It is so much more direct to yoik a feeling than to put words to it. Sometimes you may not find the words either. In Sami languages, there are not always so many adjectives that describe what you feel. Maybe it is because the yoik is the way we communicate our feelings? When the yoik died out, perhaps the way to convey our feelings disappeared?
Mortensson has often pondered what the Sami artistic language is. -Writing texts and using metaphors that are close to the Sami language and way of life is something I am constantly trying to explore. The fact that in the past one had to jog with a double bottom to pass on messages or important messages was also well known in Sami society. This is something I have not learned much about, but I think it is a very interesting part of our language history. So in tingingsverket I want to explore this in my song texts and dajahus (joike texts).
Marja Mortensson is coming Førde with three eminent musicians: Daniel Herskedal on tuba and Jakop Janssøn on percussion, with whom she regularly plays, and also Kristian Olstad on guitar.
Indigenous artist Sara Curruchich is performing in Norway for the first time.
Indigenous artist from Guatemala makes Norwegian debut
Førdefestivalen are also proud to present Sara Curruchich for the first time in Norway. The indigenous musician and music activist from Guatemala is a rising star on the international music scene. -Just like Marja Mortensson, she uses music to preserve and promote her native language, Kaqchikel, a language she is the first to use in front of an international audience, says Lien. She also sings and speaks in Spanish.
Through her music, Sara Curruchich celebrates her indigenous heritage, highlighting the resilience of her female ancestors in the face of oppression. She sings not only for herself, but for generations of indigenous women who came before her, and for the generations that will come after her. Singing in her native language is a way to carry her community with her wherever she is and in doing so honor her roots.
Sara Curruchich's music is an energetic blend of traditional Mayan Kagchikel music and rock, and with a strong voice she conveys a message of love, consciousness, respect and defense of life in all its forms. She has conveyed this message to several of the most remote communities in Guatemala, and many see her as a shining symbol of hope.
Janne Stigen Drangshold will rent Førdekonferansen 2025 - Language in games.
“Language in play” on Førdekonferansen
On Førdekonferansen 2025, the cultural conference that is being held on Thursday at the festival, has the theme Language in Play. -We have been fortunate to have Janne Stigen Drangsholt, author and professor of literature at the University of Stavanger, to host the conference, which offers exciting presentations and conversations about aspects of language based on different artistic movements, says Lien. The conference will address topics such as rhetoric, language and power and dangerous language, to name a few. We see that music can be an example of the latter when music is completely banned in some countries, she says. Folk music speaks to the need to be human together. People who meet, talk and are replenished with culture and knowledge are the key to counteracting the loss of democracy.
The full program for the 35th. Førdefestivalen and for Førdekonferansen 2025 will be launched on Thursday, April 3. Ticket sales for all events will also start then.