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Your guide to day 1 of Festival Ruska

September 26, 2017

Festival Ruska kicks off Wednesday, September 27

The color season is nearing its peak in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, and with that we’ve arrived at Festival Ruska 2017! This is meant to be a guide to your day one, which is the busiest day of the third annual festival that’s hosted by Finlandia University.

Finnish American Heritage Center

Finlandia University’s Finnish American Heritage Center is host to two of the three events during Festival Ruska’s opening day.

All three of the opening day events are Finnspired and family friendly.

If you’re looking to keep up with all things happening throughout the four days of events, be sure to use and follow the hashtag #FestivalRuska on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!

Book Signing by Meredith Fuller

Many aren’t away of the background here, but Meredith actually worked closely with the staff at the Finnish American Heritage Center (FAHC) when writing her new book, Quarry. Copies of the book will be available at North Wind Books, and the author will be on hand to talk about this Finnish-American mystery. Learn more about Fuller at her website, and be sure to ask her about her experience working with the staff at the FAHC while writing the book. The book signing is free and open to the public from 1 to 4 p.m.

Presentation about U.P. Dialect by Wil Rankinen

You can take the Yooper out of the U.P., but you can’t take the U.P. out of the Yooper! Enter Dr. Wil Rankinen, a professor of linguistics at Grand Valley State University. Rankinen will talk about what the U.P. Dialect is, and how it became a distinct characteristic of Yoopers from Ironwood to Rudyard. This event will begin at 2 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

French-Canadian Dance featuring the Thimleberry Band

The best way to finish day one of Festival Ruska? Let’s dance. This event is also tied in to Michigan’s French-Canadian Heritage Week, and should be a memorable one for all who attend. Attendees will dance to the music of The Thimbleberry Band playing a variety of French-Canadian fiddle tunes and songs. Join in contra dancing, learn a French-Canadian folk dance, and enjoy waltzes, schottisches and other favorites. This event will get started at 7 p.m.

That’s how Festival Ruska starts, check back to finlandia.edu/ruska tomorrow for more details on Thursday’s events.

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