Kasaganaan - a festival to make sense of abundance

Kasaganaan festival sounds... exotic. Where does the name come from and what kind of experience does the festival create?

Kasaganaan means (super)abundance, prosperity in Filipino. The festival strives programmatically to offer diversity and make sense of abundance. What is real and what is apparent abundance, how we confuse them and how abundance can also seem scary and threatening to our accustomed world. You can drown in abundance. We are not only bathing in ecological, economic, informational abundance, but we have turned part of the wealth into an abundance of garbage, poison and noise, which suffocates us and eats away at our living environment. Of course, we don't really want to see it either, because it's an uncomfortable topic, so we can also talk about the abundance of human darkness in the case of a person, which fortunately can never be taken too lightly.

Kasaganaan will be held for the third time. The first two times the party was held under the name of Kasaganaan in club Hall in 2019, the first time in March as part of Tallinn Music Week, where there were electronic music artists from 12 different countries, and the second time in October, when a special somatik slow rave techno party was held. Somatik techno is a genre and movement of electronic music that originated in Saint Petersburg, the creators and carriers of which Perforated Cerebral Party performed in the Hall together with other representatives of the movement.

This year, the festival was supposed to take place in the forests and on the beach of the north of Naissaare at the beginning of August, but an unexpected turn in the epidemic sector and new restrictions forced the plans to be changed. In the meantime, it seemed that we had to cancel the festival completely, but then I discovered Botik and the environment there was so inspiring that we got a new momentum. The program was and has remained largely electronic, including neighboring disciplines such as performance, installation, acoustic guitar and public conversation or talk show. By the latter, I mean the public recording of Reet Aus's IDA radio show ´´Keskkonnatund´´ on Saturday at 20:00, where everyone can have a say, express an opinion, ask questions, demonstratively stand up if they don't like something and walk away.

The artists participating in the festival are probably known for estonians - for example Chalice, Mick Pedaja... But there are also lesser-known artists. Who do you think can surprise in this year's festival program?

Can't Chalice and Mick surprise with anything anymore? Of course, an artist known for his kindness can only surprise by bumping, singing along with his jock head and scolding. That won't happen this time. Although Chalice's jokes between songs are sometimes quite provocative, fortunately, a small positive moment is that someone misunderstands and reacts in a funny way. If you think about it, understanding each other is the basis of all human communication and culture. In fact, the whole planning structure is well thought out, there are not many random artists, you just have to trust the curator's exquisite taste and accept this gift.

If we single out someone else, the anti-rock performance Saint Cheatersburg, FREMEN, a Polish musician and performance artist residing in Tallinn, Helsinki's electronic Sumuposauttaja, sacred folktronica and worldbeat-influenced dance music producer ✺ SU—MU, lo-fi art pop band will definitely be a good experience. Saint Cheatersburg, who presents the album, among others, Juan Ratón, Smoke Brake Bois, Shinola, Valner Valme and many others.

Summer in Botik´s 

Why did you choose Botiku as the venue for this festival? What exciting things are you going to do for a festival with indoor spaces and a garden?

Botik immediately inspired with its jungle-like garden, relaxed atmosphere and the environmentally sensitive attitude behind it all. One idea of ​​the festival, in addition to creating a heightened mood and synergy of gathering, is also the desire to raise awareness. Some kind of mission is needed, so that it doesn't seem like a chore, even for yourself. It's not like amen in church, that with a very important face we talk about gloomy future scenarios, publicly mock a plastic bag and ´´shake ashes on our heads´´, but when we are together we share the moment, joy and the feeling that things will get better and it doesn't have to be difficult. We focus on lightness, not heaviness.

The program is divided into two rooms, the so-called large concert hall and the greenhouse, where rather quiet concerts and DJ sets are held. We will paint the interior spaces and the garden with special visuals, which are the responsibility of the great illusionist Aleksander Sproghlings. In addition, Edith Karlson's installation "Flames" and Madlen Hirtentreu's sculpture "The Peacock" create the mood, which will probably play the role of a bouncer at the door so that all the good sheep can come to the party.

You can read more about the general concept of the festival on Kasaganan's Facebook page and under this year's festival event: https://www.facebook.com/events/184404017134371