The wild and crazy Finns hold Hiljaa Fest-a concert event with no bands, beer, or naked limbo. Whoopee!
Possibly you have been to, or are aware, of an annual event called Coechella in (where else?) California. There are many music acts, tons of drug use, thousands of people looking for non existent shade, and camping in the desert. Not your toke of dope?
For the record, I myself have never attended a concert event in the woods, as a hater of camping, bugs, filth, ear splitting music with lousy acoustics, and lack of showers for me and others I may encounter. Bah humbug!
Well, in Finland they have created an event which features none of that. Instead, you commune with hundreds? dozens? tens? of other nature and silence enthusiasts in a mire. (A mire is a swamp where lots of peat grows). Plenty of time to plan your trip, coming up October 10, 2026.
https://www.travelbeginsat40.com/event/quietchella-finland-hiljaa-fest-in-valkmusa-national-park/
The idea is that this is the anti wild concert event, in contrast to drunken/drug infused raves like Coachella or Burning man, (the latter features the famous “orgy tent”.)
Here are some of the planned “events” at the annual Quietchella rave in a the Valkmusa National Park 90 minutes east of Helskini.
(From the website: Valkmusa National Park is a natural mire region, unusual in southern Finland, containing around 40 different mire habitats. Boardwalk trails cross the wetlands, with resting places and observation towers providing opportunities to stop and take in the landscape. )
Main Events
Warning: “Some performers can be guaranteed to be there – but some are a little more mercurial by nature,” says Simo Peri, creative director of Hiljaa Fest and a wilderness guide.
- The festival’s performers include birds, wind, water and other sounds of the wetland. One of the headline acts is the black grouse, while the wind and even bog moss get their moment in the spotlight.
2. Nature, of course, cannot be rushed. A bird might sing when it chooses, the wind might suddenly change direction and a patch of moss is unlikely to respond to audience demands for an encore.
3. Visitors will tour the national park independently, pausing to listen rather than following a conventional festival programme. The intention is to encourage people to notice sounds that can easily disappear beneath the noise of everyday life.
4. “Valkmusa’s beauty can be found in its small details: how the wind whispers, how the moss faintly rustles, how the birds sing to you.”
Hahahaha! Listen to the bog moss? Really? According to AI, bog moss squelches when you walk on it. Its a silent, boring, mass of spores. But maybe the spores get together and procreate? Check out OnlyFans for video.
Now, in fairness, tons of people watch birds, and listen to them. This is another activity which I do not partake in, but hey they are a whole lot less mockable than people who walk in the woods and listen to bog moss.
Now, I have been having some fun making fun of this “bog moss rave” which is really an invitation to walk around in a swamp and listen to birds. Thats because anyone can do this anytime they want without travelling to Finland. Floridians and Lousianans can commune with poisonous snakes and alligators too! And hearing the wind run thru the trees IS supposed to be very therapeutic. (Its called a tree bath; very popular in Japan).
For you nature lovers out there, here is link where you can listen to the call of the black grouse.
https://www.british-birdsongs.uk/black-grouse/?type=song-695
I believe in this blog I have covered most of the sights and sounds of the Hiljaa Fest. You can thank me by sending a cashiers check for $500, half the cost of flying to Helsinki and back. Send check to: Billy Bushwood, 1000 Madoff Towers, NY NY
