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Welcome
to the 2006 CIA Winter Congress in Finland Friday, 24 February 2006 - Monday,
27 February
2006 Ikaalinen, FINLAND
Host: Finland
- Suomen Harmonikkaliitto (SHL) |
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General
Travel Information |
![](2005/06_map.jpg)
- We kindly ask you to arrive in
Ikaalinen, Finland in time to attend the designated meetings listed below.
The
suggested arrival airport is Tampere (Ryanair flights are available from Frankfurt
Hahn, Riga or London Stanstead), or Helsinki.
- Convenient
bus connections are available from both cities:
from Tampere: approximately
1 hour by Bus from Helsinki: approximately 3 1/2 - 4 hours by Bus from Helsinki
Airport or downtown Helsinki |
Schedule
of Events |
Pictured:
View to the Ikaalinen Church down the main Street of Ikaalinen, December 16, 2005 |
Thursday
- February 23, 2006 -
Day/Evening - arrival in Finland
Friday
- February 24, 2006 10:00
AM-12:00 PM - Executive Committee Meeting 1:30
PM - International Press Conference and Official Opening Ceremony of CIA Archives 3:30
PM - 6:30 PM - General Assembly Meeting 7:00
PM - Veli Kujala (solo) and Pipoka Trio (accordion, tuba and guitar)
Saturday
- February 25, 2006 10:00
AM-11:30 PM - Music Committee Meeting 11:30
AM - Official Luncheon hosted by Chairman of the Ikaalinen Town Board - Antero
Rytkölä 1:00
PM - Afternoon and Evening Finnish Winter Activities
Sunday
- February 26, 2006 10:00
AM - Sightseeing Afternoon
- departure from Ikaalinen by bus to Turku, Finland 6:30
PM - departure from Turku to Sweden and back with Finnish Accordion Association
Cruise - 7:00
PM - Final General Assembly Meeting
8:30
PM - Reception for CIA Delegates hosted by Sata-Häme
Soi Accordion Festival
Director - Sirpa Sippola Evening
- Entertainment aboard Cruise Boat
Monday
- February 27, 2006 All
Day - Cruise activities such as concerts, competitions, jam sessions and displays
continue 5:00
PM - arrival back in Turku, Finland 6:30
PM - return Bus provided to Ikaalinen, Tampere, or Helsinki for departure, or
optional time for continued sightseeing
- Coda
- Dinner hosted at the Ikahovi Hotel
Tuesday
- February 28, 2006 11:15
- Visit to Accordion Manufacturing and Repair School and Ikaalinen Accordion Museum
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Welcome
to Ikaalinen |
Ikaalinen,
Finland is nestled on the banks of Lake Kyrösjärvi, the 49th largest
lake in Finland covering 96.2 square km. During the Winter Congress visit, the
lake will be completely frozen over, and afford guests the opportunity to experience
some traditional Winter activities. Ikaalinen is home to the largest Spa and Indoor
Swimming and Water complex in Scandinavia.
A
large part of the accordion life in Finland is centered in Ikaalinen and is formed
into three groups, the Finnish Accordion Association, the Sata-Häme Soi Accordion
Festival and the Finnish Accordion Institute. Even this bird gets into the Ikaalinen
spirit, by checking into the accordion Birdhouse located outside the Hanuritalo
in Ikaalinen. The
CIA member, the Finnish Accordion Association has some 5,000 plus members.
The association gives accordionists an opportunity to belong to a central accordion
family, and an important part of this association is the regular publication of
their news, a 50 plus page high quality magazine entitled "Hanuri."
The Sata-Häme Soi Ikaalinen Accordion Festival offers performances
and concerts covering a broad range of styles as you can see from these pages
which review the 2003 Festival. The Sata-Häme Soi also has a winter cruise
which attracts thousands. The
Finnish Accordion Institute caters to academic accordion activities with the
archives of accordion activities, publishing new and past accordion works, CD's
and other important accordion projects, including a museum and offering support
for the summer festival and cruise. This
terrific cooperation between three major accordion groups is an inspiration to
the accordion world on the ability of groups to work together for the common goal
of promoting the accordion. (It should also be mentioned that in addition
to these three groups promoting the accordion, many conservatories also accept
the accordion for studies, the most famous being the Sibelius
Academy in Helsinki which has both Classical and Folk departments.) In
addition, there is also an Accordion Museum which houses over 100 instruments
of various styles, including the 'Accordion Bench" demonstrated here (left)
by Kimmo Mattila, President of the Finnish Accordion Association and CIA Vice
President. Having the appearance of a piano stool, it converts into an accordion
much to the amusement of patrons who have just tested it out. |
Delegates
and Guests will stay at the Ikaalinen Spa |
Located
in an area of natural beauty on the banks of Lake Kyrösjärvi, the Ikaalinen
Spa is an atmospheric leisure complex and conference centre where CIA delegates
and guest will be able to enjoy a refreshing and relaxing experience.
You
will receive excellent service at Ikaalinen Spa. The water is always tropically
warm and the saunas are hot. Here you can rest and enjoy pampering treatments,
or try out traditional Finnish Winter activities.
The Ikaalinen
Spa, the biggest multipurpose spa in the Nordic countries, is located on the shore
of Kyrösjärvi lake close to the centre of Ikaalinen. The spa has over
400 comfortable rooms on 5 separate hotels, fully licenced restaurants, cafes
and bars. Ikaalinen spa is also a full-service conference hotel with functions
rooms for 5-700 persons.
If
you are interested on keeping up your health and looking for complete refreshment
you will have a wide choice. Go to the therapy department to have relaxing and
beneficial spa treatments like massage, bath and cures. Or visit Water Park in
the main building Maininki: swim in the pools with whirls, swirls and showers,
enjoy the tropical warmth, the Turkish steam sauna, the Finnish sauna and solarium.
And afterwards you can pop in for a drink in Tropical Bar. Luxurious moments are
waiting for you!
In
the Ikaalinen Spa you can exercise in summer and in winter, indoors and outdoors.
For example jogging tracks, tennis courts, squash courts, a bowling hall, surfing,
a slalom slope and crosscountry tracks are available. Rivera is a center of various
summer activities for the whole family. Ikaalinen Art Centre in Spa area offers
highly praised summer art exhibitions. In summer there is a boat service between
the Spa and the town centre.
http://www.ikaalistenkylpyla.fi/english/index.html |
The
Finnish Accordion Association Cruise |
Delegates
and Guests will be taken by bus to Turku to take part in the annual Finnish Accordion
Association Cruise which goes between Turku, Finland - Sweden and back.
The
CIA will conduct its final meeting on board the Silja Europa in the modern conference
facilities during this overnight cruise.
Joining 3,000 other accordionists
of all ages from all over Finland, delegates and guests will enjoy non-stop accordion
music of many styles, including Finnish Folk Music and dancing, Cajun, Tex Mex,
Jazz, accordion orchestras and ensembles, trade show displays of instruments,
recordings and music and an accordion competition.
Accordion music is
found all over the boat, including in the restaurants, hallways, bars, theaters,
conference rooms, restaurants, and even over the intercom and on the TV.
Accommodations
are in the comfortable cabins located through the many floors of the Silja Europa
cruiseliner. |
The
CIA Archives in Ikaalinen |
The
archives of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes
(CIA), a member of the International Music Council (IMC-UNESCO) are beginning
to take shape with a recent donation of material from the New Zealand Accordion
Association (NZAA) and a substantial donation from former CIA Vice President Maddalena
Belfiore, who has kindly donated all her material pertaining to the CIA to the
archives center.
A Vice
President for 16 years and recipient of the CIA Merit Award, Maddalena Belfiore
has donated all of her material including CIA News Books from as early as 1954,
CIA Program Books dating to 1961 and minutes and general correspondence spanning
several decades. The
archives are housed at the Hanuritalo (Accordion House) in Ikaalinen, Finland
which is also the home of the CIA member, the Finnish Accordion Association. Many
other accordion activities are centered in Ikaalinen, including the Finnish Accordion
Institute, an accordion museum, an accordion factory and repair center and the
Sata-Häme Soi International Accordion Festival. With so many accordion activities
in Ikaalinen, it is not surprising that even this bird checks into an accordion
bird house located outside the Hanuritalo. The
archives will collect all materials pertaining to the CIA such as all Test Pieces,
program books, information such as recordings and bios from all CIA winners, Merit
and Honored Friend award recipients, press coverage, mark sheets and results from
previous competitions, minutes of General Assembly Meetings, News Books, correspondence
and much more. Not only does it profile the history of the CIA, but also the important
evolution of the accordion and the accordion movement in each country.
Making
his second trip to Finland with material for the archives, CIA President Kevin
Friedrich traveled to Ikaalinen on November 14-16, 2005 to personally hand deliver
the material from Mrs. Belfiore and the New Zealand Accordion Association, make
preliminary inventory reports as well as conduct a Press conference. With the
archive center creating considerable interest in Finland, the press conference
attracted some of the largest newspapers in Finland which each featured stories
and pictures of the work being done. The
first archive donation of many CIA Test Piece scores was made by Ernest Deffner,
Inc, the parent company of Ernest Deffner Publications commemorating the firm's
own 70th anniversary. The president of the firm Faithe Deffner is a long time
friend of the CIA and has been a United States delegate to the CIA for more than
32 years.
Anyone
interested in donating their material pertaining to the CIA to the Archives is
invited to do so, by sending the material to:
CIA
Archives - Hanuritalo Kyrösselänkatu 3, IKAALINEN, 39500, FINALND Tel:
358 3 4400221 Fax: 358 3 4509071 E-mail: cia.archives@harmonikkaliitto.net To
conclude the CIA 70th Anniversary year, an official CIA Archive ribbon cutting
ceremony will officially open the archives during this CIA Winter Congress meeting
in Ikaalinen from February 24-27, 2006. |
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