On March 1, Narva officially became the Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture 2025, after the symbol of Finno-Ugric capitals of culture – Tsirk-bird – was handed over to Katri Raik, the mayor of Narva. The festive opening also included a Finno-Ugric procession and concert dedicated to the start of spring.
The festive day started with the opening of the exhibition “Bible in the languages of Finno-Ugric peoples” at the Narva Central Library and continued with a procession along the Narva River Promenade, which featured flags of all Finno-Ugric peoples.
The official ceremony of handing over the title of the Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture 2025 was held in the historic Narva City Hall. The symbol of the Finno-Ugric Capitals of Culture – Tsirk-bird – was brought to the festive hall by Oliver Loode (URALIC Centre) and Aleksi Palokangas (Sukukansojen Ystävät ry) and handed over to Katri Raik, the Mayor of Narva. In turn, the Mayor handed the Tsirk to Ekaterina Kuznetsova (Ingeri House) as the main organizer of the Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture 2025 year. Thereafter, representatives of several kindred peoples’ delegations, including Kvens, Setos, Maris and Komis, greeted the organizers of the new Finno-Ugric capital of culture – Narva.
The opening ceremony was followed by a concert at the Narva College of the University of Tartu, with performances in Izhorian, Votic, Finnish, Karelian, Mari, Udmurt, Moksha, Komi and Komi-Permyak languages. The overarching theme of the concert was the start of spring in the Finno-Ugric world.
Opening festivities continued on the next day, March 2, when a service in various Finno-Ugric languages was held at the Alexander’s Church.
The festive opening of Narva – Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture 2025 – was covered by numerous media channels, including Estonian public broadcaster ERR
