A mosquito buzzes by your ear. Your socks are already wet from the puddles soaking through your trail shoes and the person ahead of you nearly slips on the smooth granite. Behind you, a stream of colourful raincoats stretches deep into the pine forest.
Still, no one complains. In the air is the sound of laughter, a faint smell of mosquito repellent and somewhere in the distance, the sound of a fiddle.
Welcome to Kaustinen, a tiny municipality in western Finland with just over 4,000 inhabitants, best known as the home of the largest folk music festival in the Nordic countries. Here, the week-long celebration of traditional music begins not with fireworks or grand openings, but with something far more memorable: a night hike into the forest.
A festival like no other
Johanna Laurila and Hendrik Clercx couldn´t resist the music but started dancing – something that often happens in Kaustinen.
It’s raining, as it sometimes does in a Finnish summer. But at the car park of a small village school in Järvelä, people are lacing up their boots.
Spirits are high. The Kaustinen Folk Music Festival is about to start once again.
The night hike is open to all and offers two routes: a 4.5 km or a longer 15 km loop. Along the trail, participants stop to enjoy live folk music: sometimes at a clearing in the woods, sometimes beside a fire.
This year, rain meant the instruments couldn’t make it into the forest. But the musicians still played in the schoolyard before departure. The group Me Esiintyjät (We, the Performers) set the mood with a lively waltz and an upbeat tune. Some hikers, undeterred by the drizzle, even danced.
A musical path through the woods
A little rain doesn’t bother the hikers as Finns are well accustomed to rainy days.
The hike starts through soft pine forest, then narrows into smaller and muddier trails. A local guide from the Perhonjokilaakson Retkeilijät (Perhonjoki Valley Hikers) club leads the group of over a hundred participants into the trees.
Raindrops ripple through puddles. A lone bird chirps. The forest smells of moss and rain. Though the hike began at 8 pm, the sky is still light. In Finland, darkness barely comes at all in early July.
The legend has it a troll lives somewhere in these cliffs.
The group snakes deeper into the woods, eventually arriving at a place that feels like it belongs in a fairytale: the Pööskallio cliffs. According to local folklore, trolls live here among the massive boulders. Standing there, it’s not hard to believe.
Time for a break. People sip from thermoses, unwrap chocolate bars and lean against rocks.
Music brings people together
Ilya Crols (left), Joosje Holstein and Hendrik Clercx met each other at a music camp. The hike was a welcoming break for them, since the past few days have been all about making music.
Among the hikers are Joosje Holstein from the Netherlands and Ilya Crols and Hendrik Clercx from Belgium. They’re here as part of Ethno Finland, a youth music camp that gathers young folk musicians from all over the world.
The route of the night hike winds through diverse landscapes, taking hikers first to the rocky outcrops of Pööskallio and then up to the heights of Isokallio.
“It’s so beautiful here in the forest,” Holstein says. “I never would’ve ended up in a place like this on my own.”
“And this evening light! It’s very special,” Clercx adds, looking up at the sky, now tinged with pink.
This is one of those moments when strangers become companions.
Isokallio: high point of the trail
Anni-Marija Vauhkala (left) and Tytti Huttunen recently graduated from Kaustinen’s music-focused upper secondary school. Vauhkala’s main instrument is violin, Huttunen plays cello.
Around 10 pm, the group reaches Isokallio, the highest point on the trail. The view opens up over the forest, stretching far in every direction.
At the summit stands a traditional Finnish kota (a wooden hut) where a fire glows gently in anticipation of sausages.
Anni-Marija Vauhkala and Tytti Huttunen are standing barefoot on a mossy mound.
Their shoes were already soaked, so they just gave up. But the discomfort doesn’t matter.
“I grew up surrounded by forest, so this feels like home,” Vauhkala says.
“Starting the festival with a long walk in nature – what could be better?”
Huttunen nods.
“I love hiking, and combining it with live folk music. It’s just an amazing experience.”
Back to where it all began
A folk music band, Me Esiintyjät (We, the Performers), is a group of young musicians who only play at the annual night hike event.
As the final kilometres pass, the group descends through the forest, returning to where they started. Folk music can be heard from afar, gently warming the evening air.
The rain has eased.
It’s nearly midnight, but no one’s in a hurry to leave. There’s talk about saunas and swims in the Perho River, of what concerts to catch tomorrow, of how unexpectedly magical this rainy evening turned out to be.
In Kaustinen, folk music never sleeps even in the rain, and not even in the middle of the night.
Text and photos by Emilia Kangasluoma, July 2025
Practical tips
- The Kaustinen Folk Music Festival is held annually in July in western Finland.
- The night hike is suitable for most fitness levels. Wear sturdy shoes and prepare for changing weather.
- Kaustinen is about 40 minutes by car from Kokkola, or 5 hours by train or bus from Helsinki.
