Ruhnu Violin Festival brings together Estonian, Swedish and global folk musicians

The international violin festival begins on the island of Ruhnu on July 2, bringing together traditional musicians from several countries. During the festival, Swedish Ambassador Charlotte Wrangberg will also visit the island.

Now in its 13th year, the festival is dedicated to learning about and promoting the traditional music of the Ruhnu Swedes and Sweden. The festival's violin camp gives musicians of all ages the opportunity to develop both their playing technique and their repertoire. In addition to the Ruhnu Swedish musical heritage, each year's program also highlights another musical tradition, broadening participants' horizons while offering Ruhnu residents and visitors a high-quality program of traditional music.

"Ruhnu is a unique place where living cultural heritage and international cooperation come together naturally. Our goal is not only to teach music, but also to create connections between people, traditions and generations. For one week, participants in the Ruhnu violin camp become a single creative musical community. It is through these authentic encounters that the future stars of traditional culture are born," festival organizer Karoliina Kreintaal said.

Among the headliners and guest instructors at the 2026 festival are two leading figures in Swedish traditional music: flutist Jonas Simonson and violinist, composer and educator Mats Edén.

Mats Edén is a professor of folk music at Lund University and teaches violin at the Malmö Academy of Music. Active as a musician since the 1970s, he has been one of the innovators of Swedish folk music and, as the artistic director of the ensemble Groupa, has helped shape the development of Swedish folk music ensembles as well as the rise of world music. In 2009, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Jonas Simonson is one of Sweden's best-known and most innovative folk and world music flutists. Since the 1980s, he has performed around the world and currently plays with the ensembles Groupa, Tuultenpesä and Jormin/Nelsson/Simonson. In addition to performing, he has worked as a theater musician, producer and lecturer in world music at the Academy of Music and Drama at the University of Gothenburg.

In addition to instrumental instruction, the festival program includes dance and singing workshops. Traditional music and dance instructor Leanne Barbo, who has researched Ruhnu's dance traditions, will lead morning dance workshops open to anyone interested. Sänni Noormets will teach Ruhnu Swedish hymns and songs, while Bulgarian DJ Kosta Kostov will host a dance party at the Ri