From July 21-23, the event will feature concerts in Ruhnu's churches, the Creative Center of Ruhnu (Ruhnu Kultuuriait) and the open air.

In addition to musical concerts, the festival will also offer hikes, lectures, workshops and evenings of traditional dance.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Ruhnu Violin Camp (Ruhnu viiulilaagrilised), which gave rise to the Ruhnu Violin Festival. The program brings 40 violinists and musicians to the island for a week every summer.

Folk musicians Karoliina Kreintaal, Lee Taul, Sänni Noormets, and Kairi Leivo are the organizers of both the violin camp and the festival. In addition, people of Ruhnu Island participate in the events.

Kreintaal, one of the festival's organizers and the camp's leader, said that the idea for the festival had been around for a while, but it was not until the camp's 10th anniversary that the community had the courage to take the next step.

"We decided to invite the musicians who had previously coached at the camp back to participate at the festival: so we have a truly worldwide and dynamic group of musicians on our lineup, many of whom have become close friends over time," Kreintaal added.

The first festival will feature French-Hungarian violinist Baltazar Montanaro, Irish music veteran and Chieftains founder Breanndán Beaglaoch, wedding musicians Maria Stępien, Marcin Lorenz and Maciej Filipczuk from Poland, brass musicians Marcelo Politano and Luiz Black from Brazil, early music brass lute and oud player Efrén López from Spain, and violin virtuoso Michalis Kouloumis from Cyprus.

In the camp preceding the Violin Festival, professors campers, and organizers establish a semi-structured camp orchestra that will perform on the mainland after the festival.

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