What is better to do in autumn than to have a Kekri with friends? That’s what Lumia thought and got chatting with the permies in the area. It appears others liked the idea too and the group started designing an event. The date was set for the 4th of October and a location was set to be Ystävyyden puutarha, or Garden of Friendship in English, a community space of friends of ours in Aitoo village, Pälkäne.
The group put the word out and in no time 20+ people signed up for it. The program came from the community:
• Shout poetry workshop led by Johanna from Haltian Pappila
• Creative painting workshop by Tuula from Tuulantuulia
• Music by J Mikael
• More music by Enchanted Boa
Everyone was invited to bring some food – big pot-luck – and hey presto, the party was set!
Finally it's party time!
Lumia and I arrived early on the day of the Kekri. We had enough time to get a tea and settle in. Soon after us others arrived. The kitchen and living room soon filled up and around 15 o’clock we started with a check-in circle. Still more people arrived. Johanna introduced us to “shout poetry” and while I was eager to participate I got so hungry that I put myself a plate of delicious home cocked food together – and listened to the shout poetry of various participants. That was quite an experience.
For Tuula’s painting session we all took place in a circle and each of us had a hardboard canvas set in front of us. Additionally each of us got a glass of acrylic paint and something to paint with – in my case a fork. Yes, a fork. Tuula put on a song on her phone and when the music stopped we had to hand the tool and colour over to the next person. The switching was quite fast! It’s like the “Musical Chair” game but without the chairs. Fun. At the end we were asked to take a look a the person’s painting right to us and write something nice about it.
While I already had had a plate of food, everyone else was starving. After the painting session the kitchen was crowded. In no time the table was full of delicious food. My personal favourites were the vegan tomato pie and the potato salad.
Musical delights
Lumia had invited J. Mikael to play, as she knew him from a previous event a few years back. Janne is singer, guitar player, songwriter from Tampere who uses music to explore his inner self. It is music from the soul. If you haven’t listened to him then please do. It is heart warming.
After Janne we had surprise musical guests: the duo Enchanted Boa, who are artists, storytellers, ambassadors and bridge-builders, and a Finnish-Huni Kuĩ couple. They shared some traditional Huni Kuĩ prayers with us in the form of music, and it was really a wonderful, energy-loaded end to the evening for many. The evening was already getting late, and many participants headed home after the music, thankful and happy for the successful event. We did too, but what I heard next day a good handful of people had stayed for some sauna and midnight pancakes on the porch.
Reflections
The event was a great success really. Lumia’s hope was to bring local “permies” and sustainability activists together and strengthening the network, and that worked wonderfully. New connections were made and old ones reinforced. Some surprise meetings also emerged when people met old aquaintances who they did not know they shared friends with, which was fun.
Thanks to Elina and Onda at the Ystävyyden puutarha, the European Union for co-funding the LINK project, of which this event was also part of, and to everyone who came and shared their skills, friendship and joy with us! Let’s plan something similar for next spring.
Kekri impressions
