Honkey Dorey Happy Campers!

This is it, and it was great! We have come to an end of another Rokki, and it is time express our gratitude to the many individuals, who have contributed their talent, time and energy towards the success of Ilosaarirock 2006.

The Festival Life page has been updated during the festival weekend. It features stories and photos written and taken by dozens of journalists and photographers about bands, as well as numerous other interesting phenomena at Laulurinne.

If you have any feedback on this year's Ilosaarirock, you can mail your comments to info@ilosaarirock.fi or use our message board.

Thank you, thank you and rok rok.

See you next summer!

An Introduction to Ilosaarirock

This year (2006) is the 35th consecutive year of the Ilosaarirock. 20 000 tickets are put on sale, and the festival has been sold out in advance for the past nine years.

The first festival, called Rock Rieha (Rock Rave), took place 1971 on the Ilosaari island (which literally translates to Fun island) in Pielisjoki River which runs through Joensuu. This is where the festival got it's name.

Rokki, as the event is informally known, has grown to be one of the main events of the Finnish rock-festival calendar. The fact that Ilosaari is organized completely by volunteers and music enthusiasts makes the event a unique in Finland. The aim is to develop and create a well-oiled machine that offers a wide range of bands and services to the festival goers. Everyone works together towards creating an experience that rewards all the hard work.

Even though most of the work is done by volunteers, no less than a professional standard is required. The Rokki is still owned and run by Joensuun Popmuusikot (The Pop Musicians of Joensuu) and it shows in the end result. Popmuusikot is a association dedicated to the promotion of live-music in the county of North Karelia, where Joensuu is located. Their main aim is to better the quality of live-music and they also have a section dedicated to helping local bands with financial aid for recording demo tapes and actual recordings.

The nerve centre of operations is Popmuusikot's office in Joensuu which employs the only three people who get paid all year round. The office acts as the information, financial and administrative base. The Popmuusikot Board meets once a week during the year and up to four times a week in the week leading up to the festival. Organizing next years festival starts literally as soon as the old one has finished.

Another important thing is that Ilosaarirock was originally created for the public, not as a profit making sceme for the organizers. Year after year everything possible is done to create a safe and enjoyable enviroment both for the bands and the public. There are altogether five stages at the festival, plus the clubs, which are held from Friday to Sunday at the Ice Rink and the actual festival site. During its entire history, the festival has presented bands and artists from both Finland and abroad, including various genres of popular music.