An outdoor festival in Finland is giving birds, wind and bog moss the kind of billing normally reserved for rockstars. Hiljaa Fest, also known as “Quietchella,” is a free nature-listening festival in Valkmusa National Park where visitors explore four designated stages to experience the sounds, sights and scents of the surrounding landscape.
“Welcome to Quietchella – the world’s first festival of nature listening at Valkmusa National Park. Here, the headliners aren’t pop stars but black grouse, cranes, wind, peat moss and the sounds of the mire.”
Organized by Visit Kotka-Hamina and the municipality of Pyhtää, the festival’s program began with an invitation-only opening Oct. 10 and continues this fall as a self-guided experience open to everyone. The event is intended to draw attention to the national park’s biodiversity while encouraging visitors to slow down and listen.
Organizers promote Quietchella as the world’s quietest festival, with a lineup of 13 natural “performers” spread across the park. Rather than following a concert schedule, visitors move at their own pace, stopping to observe whichever plants, animals and natural phenomena happen to be putting on a show.
Four Stages Where Nature Sets The Schedule
The festival’s four stages highlight different parts of Valkmusa’s landscape. Near the main entrance, the Räme Stage features fragrant Labrador tea shrubs and the twisted pine trees growing in the bog. The Neva Stage, billed as the main stage, focuses on the open wetland, with sphagnum moss, sundews, cloudberries, cranberries, morning mist and wind all included in the program.
The Simonsaari Stage provides an elevated viewing area for watching the surrounding landscape, with black grouse, common cranes and lizards listed among its potential attractions. The fourth stage, Moronvuori Korpisuo, shifts the focus to the park’s rocky scenery and the Moronvuori cliffs.
The festival’s mascot is the purple-bordered gold moth. Organizers caution its behavior and flight season mean visitors should not count on seeing it.
A Festival Across Finland’s Wetlands
Valkmusa sits about a 90-minute drive east of Helsinki. The national park protects more than 40 types of mire habitat, an unusually rich variety for southern Finland. Boardwalks, forest trails and observation points allow visitors to explore the wetlands in an unguided experience.
Creative director and wilderness guide Simo Peri says the concept grew from an appreciation for details that visitors might otherwise overlook, including wind, birdsong and the subtle sounds of vegetation.
“It is a festival trip designed to nurture one’s soul and one’s mind.” -Simo Peri
Attendees are asked to respect the environment and avoid disturbing its inhabitants, while the park’s visitor guidance requires keeping pets leashed and carrying out trash. Love the concept of festival where ear protection aren’t a must and slimy promoters aren’t making a mint on attendees. Rock on Quietchella!
