About Us

Kolibrí is a festival where the diversity and plurilingualism of contemporary children in Finland can be experienced. Every autumn, during the last week of September. We offer an artistic, cultural, recreational and educational programme with free access.

The Kolibrí Festivaali’s programme contains multidisciplinary workshops, theater and dance performances, concerts, a fair of children’s literature in Spanish and Portuguese, a biennial seminar on bilingualism for families, as well as debates and panels. These activities are facilitated by artists, scientists, experts and other culture workers of diverse origins residing in Finland.

The programme is selected and structured at the end of each spring. In January, we make an open call to submit proposals on art, literature, science, and recreation. Annually, and thanks to the support of ibero-american embassies, we invite a distinguished ibero-american artist to participate in Kolibrí. This artist will have a programme consisting of workshops for the families; magistral lectures and workshops for professionals, university students and experts; an exhibition and sales event open to the public; as well as the sales of his/her books in our Book Fair.

Kolibrí is made possible thanks to the co-production organized with the Cultural Centres and Libraries in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. Each year, numerous local and ibero-american institutions trust and finance our work.

Essentially, our festival is made possible thanks to a vast team of people who volunteer their work all year round.

Kolibrí is a production of the Kultturikeskus Ninho ry association.

Support Kolibrí, become a member of Ninho!

Our purpose

Our purposes are:

  • To enrich and make the children’s agenda and local cultural supply more representative.
  • To facilitate the access, active participation, and enjoyment of the diverse infancies and their families to education, science and culture, without any sort of discrimination.
  • To expand work spaces are make visible the diverse talents residing in Finland: artists, scientists and other culture workers.

Thus, Kolibrí contributes to the democratization of children’s culture in Finland.

History

Kolibrí Festivaali was born in the year 2011, at the heart of the Latin-American community of Helsinki. Initially, this project is the result of the collective and voluntary work of mothers, professionals, and culture and diversity activists. In 2013 we started with the first biennial seminar on bilingualism and in 2015 we organized the first spring Kolibrí in the libraries of Espoo and Malmitalo. We created our association Kultuurikeskus Ninho in 2016.

With time, and as we grew, we intentionally added fathers to the project, and other people, committed with voluntary work around contemporary infancies, got gradually in touch. They, as the forerunners, are convinced that Kolibrí offers a space for meeting and for the plurilingual dialogue, where the right of infants to an active participation in art, science and culture is promoted, as well as the enjoyment of quality time in the families. We understand families as representing all possibilities of love. We aim at facilitating the inclusion and integration of children and adults having a second language of inheritance, different to the nationals.

In 2020 we were distinguished with the Orden al Mérito by the Spanish government, for our work in the promotion of the culture and language.

If you want to know more details about our history and methodology, click here

Staff

Kolibrí Festivaali Staff 2023

Production Team 

Artistic Director: Laura Gazzotti
General Production Assistant: Oliver Asikainen & Mariana Sanchéz Nuñez 
Concerts and Performances Assistant: Juliana Forli
Technical Infrastructure: Eduardo Acosta
Visual Image: Ina Fiebig
Image Kolibrí Festivaali 2023: Alfredo Soderguit
Ninho officer manager: Núria Rovira Martí 

Press and Communications

Communications Manager: Marta Bermúdez
Photography coordinator: Agustin Garagorry

Program Selection Committee 

Adriana Minhoto (BR), Javier Gauto (PY), Kemê Pellicier (ES), Nadia Navas (MX), Rosamaría Bolóm (MX)  

Web Platform Team 

UX & UI: Maritere Vargas
Development: Joni Kaunismäki (Mediaani) 
Visual Design: Ina Fiebig 
Technical support: Víctor Rincón & Eduardo Acosta

Volunteers Coordination Team 

Claudia Herrera Rosales   

Feedback & Evaluation Team 

Eurídice Hernández Gomes, Javier Gauto & Daniela Centeno-Salo

Book Fair Coordination Team 

Verónica Miranda & Ana Tamayo 

Volunteers: Rosibel Huete-Herrera & Maritere Vargas  

Accessibility Team 

Verónica Miranda, Alicia Sevilla, Adriana Minhoto.  

Finance Team 

Andrea Botero, Laura Gazzotti, Javier Gauto, Víctor Rincón  

Translation team  

Coordinator: Oliver Asikainen 

Editors: Paula Hecq, Victor Manuel Rincón, Marta Bermúdez, Oliver Asikainen, Euridice Hernández Gomez, Teija Potenze 

Swedish: Víctor Manuel Rincón, Venla Rannanpää, Johanna Wikström, Inka Pursiainen 

Finnish: Inka Pursiainen, Elena Kolehmainen, Liisa Makkonen, Javier Gauto, Maria Kudinova, Teija Potenze, Johanna Wikström, Venla Rannanpää, Cyndel Isabel Ochoa 

English: Oliver Asikainen, Marta Bermúdez 

Spanish: Marta Bermúdez, Oliver Asikainen 

Portuguese: Adriana Minhoto, Amanda Nakazato, Luisa Santos, Nathalia Katsivalis, Tiago Martins, Daniela Nissinen, Sofia Santos.  

Special collaboration 

Anna Sidorova (Regional Artist of Cultural Diversity, TAIKE), Sambakoulu Imperio do Papagaio, Hurra Festivaali – Kataarina Metsälamppi. 

Kulttuurikeskus Ninho ry 

Javier Gauto, Andrea Botero, Teija Potenze, Verónica Miranda, María Luisa Lozano.