Small storm on the coast of Iceland

If you are in Iceland 1.-4. November, you can experience Sámi pop, traditional joik, and electronic music at the renowned Iceland Airwaves festival. This is part of a new collaboration with Iceland Airwaves and Europe's largest Indigenous People's festival, Riddu Riđđu festivála. The two festivals are collaborating this year for the first time around the artistic program of Arctic Waves, a showcase with several music genres from different parts of the Arctic region.

Riddu Riđđu festivála is known to most as the Sámi festival that attracts hundreds of people to Kåfjord municipality every July. In addition to the festival, Riddu Riđđu organize events throughout the year, locally, nationally and internationally. The festival's administration is experiencing an increase in requests from other organizers who are proposing collaborations, and the collaboration with Iceland Airwaves was high on the wish list according to festival director Sajje Solbakk:

- Riddu Riđđu festivála is evolving and has ever-increasing year-round activities. We are now in a position where we have to decline exciting invitations to collaborate due to limited resource capacity. Arctic Waves, on the other hand, was a request we couldn't say no to. It is exciting to follow the artistic explosion in Sápmi, and to see that the demand for Sámi art production is constantly increasing. I am proud of the Sámi delegation we are bringing to Iceland, and I can't wait to see the audience's excitement when they get to experience some of the best musicians Sápmi has to offer! - Says Solbakk.

Two concerts with Umesámi pop sensation
Award-winning Katarina Barruk is one of Sápmi's most popular vocalists, known for her atmospheric pop music that combines joik and Umesámi lyrics. She sings in her mother tongue Umesámi, which is on UNESCO's red list of endangered languages. Barruk's music is a mixture of pop, traditional joik and improvised elements. During Arctic Waves, Katarina Barruk plays on Wednesday 1 November and Saturday 4 November.

Spellemann prize winner ready for Arctic Waves
Peder Niilas Tårnesvik has distinguished himself as one of the most popular electronic artists and producers in Norway. The album "Also This Will Change" was received to rave reviews in several national newspapers. He also won Spellemann for Electronica of the Year for the album. Niilas has an ear for details like few others, where he mixes genres, expressions and musical emotions in his very own soundscape. He uses field recordings, samples, live and digital instruments, with drips of his Sami background creating a glittering carpet of sound. Niilas plays on Thursday 2.11 and Saturday 4.11 under Arctic Waves. 

Sámi language prize winner joins showcase 
Emil Kárlsen is an actor and musician from Storfjord in Nord-Troms. Kárlsen makes music in the Northern Sámi language with a unique soundscape that Sápmi has not experienced before: A soundscape colored by classical strings, with hints of alternative country, jazz, catchy pop melodies and poetic lyrics. Emil Kárlsen is also the recent winner of the Sámi Parliament's language promotion prize for 2023. During Arctic Waves, Emil Kárlsen will play a concert on Friday 3 November.