Faravid’s Land

Faravid’s Land, a performance intertwining theatre, contemporary circus and contemporary dance, is set in Oulu’s legendary Raksila market district, which at its heyday even surpassed Helsinki’s Stockmann in grocery sales. Now the Eka-market building has reached the end of its useful life and is to be demolished. In the future, the area will be home to a long-awaited new source of happiness and pride: an event arena, a centre promising bliss and vitality for all of northern Finland. Could the source of Oulu’s happiness be hiding in Raksila? Could it be buried here? Faravid’s Land is a journey and a myth about seekers and keepers of happiness, stretching from the remains of the market to ancient Northern Ostrobothnia. What is happiness, really? In this dreamlike experience, possible guides include Akka-Queen, master of old and new spells; Kärppä, the local spirit animal; or Kaamos itself. The work’s mythological fiction and fascinating creatures merge with a market building that has seen better days, where the history of Sale, Alko and flea-market activity also echoes. Faravid’s Land invites audiences not only to marvel at the skills of 14 actors, dancers and circus artists, but also to cast spells for good fortune, drive away bad luck, say goodbye to the Raksila market and welcome a gloriously offbeat event arena before the event arena. Eternal questions and mythical landscapes unfold throughout the emptied building in this immersive performance, where audiences are free to choose their own path towards fulfilment—a pursuit carried out cunningly, invoked with power and quietly shamed. A myth is a story or belief that explains things for which there is no first-hand knowledge or whose truth cannot be proven. Happiness is a wondrous thing, and according to statistics, Oulu has a great deal of it. Faravid’s Land is written by Eira Virekoski and directed by Alma Lehmuskallio and Pirjo Yli-Maunula. The production is a co-production by Oulun teatteri and Flow Productions, in collaboration with Oulu2026 and still still (NED).