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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2017)
20 // COASTWEEKEND.COM Arrival, Canada’s top Festival features Haugaard / Blum Band from Denmark ABBA tribute band, entertains at Scan Fest ASTORIA — At the 50th annual Astoria Scandina- vian Midsummer Festival, Arrival — Canada’s tribute to ABBA — will play a special show 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 17, at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds (92937 Walluski Loop). Arena doors open at 7 p.m. The band will play AB- BA’s greatest hits, including “Dancing Queen,” “Mama Mia,” “Take a Chance on Me,” “Knowing Me, Know- ing You.” This 50th anniversary event requires a special ticket: $15 general admis- sion; $25 reserve seating. The ticket includes admission to the festival after 5 p.m.. Parking is $2 per day, $5 for the weekend. People who arrive before 5 p.m. will need to purchase an $8 festival admission wristband good for all three days. There will be a public dance with live music by Scandinavian Country im- mediately after the concert. Reserve seat tickets are on sale at Finn Ware in Astoria, general admission tickets at the Liberty Theater Box Office in Astoria until 5 p.m. Thursday, June 15. After this date, tickets will be on sale at the festival admission table only. The original ABBA formed in Stockholm in 1968 and won the Eurovi- sion song contest in 1974. ABBA was the first group from a non-En- glish-speaking country to achieve consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries and to spawn ABBA tribute bands worldwide, accord- ing to press materials. The ASTORIA — The Haugaard / Blum Band, a Danish band, will make six appear- ances at the Astoria Scandi- navian Midsummer Festival held Friday through Sunday, June 16 through 18, at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds (92937 Walluski Loop). Admission to the festival is $8 for all three days. Details can be found at asto- riascanfest.com. Haugaard’s composi- tions draw on the Danish musical tradition he grew up with, according to press materials. The British music magazine fROOTS wrote: “Haugaard is a brilliant fiddler, one of the very best in the world.” Blum has played throughout Europe, and from Canada to Japan. Us- ing ancient songs and bal- lads as a base, she reinvents them with contemporary gestures and mixes them SUBMITTED PHOTO SUBMITTED PHOTO Harald Haugaard Helene Blum elegantly with her own compositions. The Haugaard / Blum Band also consists of three back-up musicians: Kirstine Elise Pedersen on cello, Mikkel Grue on guitar and Sune Rahbek on percussion. Haugaard and Blum were recently named by the Ger- many government as am- bassadors for the European Year of Cultural Heritage. For more information about the artists, visit har- aldh.dk andheleneblum.dk. Aallotar from Finland and Minnesota come to Astoria SUBMITTED PHOTO Arrival original band dissolved in 1982 but will reform for an upcoming 2017 project. For more information about the festival, visit astoriascanfest.com. ASTORIA — Aallotar, a band whose two members hail from Finland and Minnesota, will perform at the Astoria Scan- dinavian Midsummer Festival 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, June 17; and 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 18. The festival — held Friday, June 16, through Sunday, June 18 — will take place at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds (92937 Walluski Loop). The band’s Saturday performances will take place at the fairground Exhibit Hall. The first Sunday performance will be held there during a spe- cial church service; the second and third at the fairgrounds arena. The band is a “transatlantic collaboration of Finnish and Finnish-American music in an original ‘chamber-folk’ style,” according to press materials, SUBMITTED Aallotar consists of Sara Pajunen and Teija Niku. Ancestors of Sara Pajunen and Teija Niku lived within hours of each other in western Finland, speaking the same language, playing the same music, living the same culture. In the late 19th century, Pajunen’s ancestors emigrated to northern Minnesota; Niku’s family remained in Finland. Today, they explore a common heritage in Finnish folk music, while creating new sounds that reflect their contemporary cultures and various interests. Festival admission is $8 for all three days. Festival goers will enjoy heritage, tradition, food and fun, in addition to Scandinavian-themed enter- tainment. For more information about the festival, visit asto- riascanfest.com.
