The 54th Europeade event, now organised in Finland for the very first time, has come to an end. The great opening and closing manifestations of the event took place at Gatorade Center.
On Saturday, the Europeade folk made a world record in humppa dancing. The record, an unofficial one at least, was made by 20 181 people. Dancing took place not only at the Varvintori Square but also at Vaakahuone, at the boat Esposito, near the ship Suomen Joutsen (Swan of Finland) and within the DBTL festival area.
Nearly 300 groups from 24 European countries participated in the event. Although the event had never been organised in Finland before, it was immediately discovered by the public. During five days, the number of people participating in performances and other programme such as open workshops and evening jams was 204 000 in total.
- Wednesday was a positive surprise to all of us. People in Turku were interested in the performance Joki – Ån and a few thousand viewers gathered to the Varvintori Square and the riverbank, says Kimmo Hyyppä, Project Manager of Europeade at the City of Turku.
- People from Turku and other audience were impressed by the performances and spectacular dresses of the magnificent participants. Thank you to all of you performers who came to Turku, says the coordi-nator of the event Hilu Toivonen-Alastalo.
Already during the parade on Saturday, it was clear that the event in Turku had been well organised. Toi-vonen-Alastalo says that the thorough arrangements were praised by the international Europeade com-mittee.
During the closing manifestation on Sunday, the groups performed one more time, together and sepa-rately. One of the most spectacular moments was the collective letkajenkka (letkis) dance performance by children’s dance groups. Hundreds of children were on stage at the same time. The evening ended with a grand waltz performed by Finnish folk dancers.
The event was held in the spirit of Finland’s centenary celebration – together.
- The key people in making the event a success were the 600 volunteers. We would not have been able to do this without them. They guided groups, accommodated the participants in 19 schools, served 91 000 meals in six locations and gave the visitors an image of a well-functioning city, Toivonen-Alastalo says.
- The sunny event city Turku has again given its very best. It is magnificent that we were able to offer experiences to locals and visitors of all ages, says Antti Kirkkola, Liaison Manager at the City of Turku.
- Well done, Turku! Together we made the best Europeade ever, Toivonen-Alatalo says.
The event was part of Finland’s centenary celebration.