Every two years, for five weeks in autumn, the Münsterland Festival, funded by the Regional Cultural Policy (RKP), helps to overcome borders in Europe. With music, art and dialogue, the traditions and attitude to life of a European country or a specific region flow into the Münsterland. For this is the special conceptual aspect of the series of events that began in 2005. The extensive programme is not staged in the region's large event halls and museums, but in special, often somewhat smaller venues - in historic moated castles, former industrial wastelands, exhibition halls and art associations, selected concert halls or theatres.
The musical focus is on jazz, pop, folk and classical music and is complemented by a diverse range of exhibitions and excursions. The artists represent the cultural diversity and current trends of the respective host region. More important is the mutual open-mindedness. The concerts in particular, thanks to the unusual spatial proximity between musicians and audience, also create an emotional closeness that turns the concert into a togetherness. Exhibitions, a graphics project and dialogues, which are, among other things, an experimental field for new ideas of mutual rapprochement as excursions, expand the engagement with the culture of the host region.
For the twelfth edition, the guests come from the European North: Finland is the focus of Münsterland Festival part 12, bringing music, art and culture to Münsterland in autumn 2023.
The Finnish artists will tour the entire region and invite visitors to discover their music and art at special locations in Münsterland. Guests include well-known faces such as Iiro Rantala, Finland's best-known jazz pianist, as well as exciting up-and-coming musicians such as Antti Paalanen on the accordion or Elia Lombardini with his violin.
In addition to the musical highlights, many other formats are planned that focus on the culture and way of life of the Finnish guests. So this year the Münsterland Festival will once again offer the opportunity not only to experience cultural Finland, but also to get to know Münsterland in a new or different way. The first programme items have already been fixed, the complete programme will be published in summer 2023.