The Pielinen Soi festival is a year-round arts event founded in 2008, with dozens of concerts and other events taking place annually across Pielinen. The most extensive series of events takes place in the summer season, with concerts and other events taking place especially in Lieksa, including in the atmospheric Paateri wilderness atelier church, the Pielinen Museum, the Kulma Festival Hall and the Temple of Silence at the top of Koli, as well as in Juuka and Nurmes. The Pielinen Soi Festival has years of experience in staging unique and distinctive concerts in unique and distinctive settings.
In 2019-2022, the festival’s repertoire has focused on Karelian cultural heritage and Orthodoxy and will continue with some of the same themes. The Pielinen Soi Festival will work closely with other summer events in Pielinen Karelia, such as the Koli Hiking Week, the Lieksan Art Association’s Summer Exhibition, the Lieksan Brass Week, the Monola Festival Week and the Nurmes Summer Music Festival.
What makes the Pielinen Soi festival unique among most other summer events is that it is not tied to a specific date each year, but complements and enriches the events on offer in Pielinen Karelia, providing a whole new range of experiences for both the local population and the more demanding cultural tourism target group.