The Finnish Folk Instrument Museum

The Finnish Folk Music Instrument Museum, maintained by the Finnish Folk Music Institute, is located in Kaustinen at the Folk Art Center. The museum's collections include over a thousand instruments belonging to the University of Tampere, the Finnish Folk Music Institute, and the Finnish Folk Music Instrument Museum. The collections mainly consist of folk instruments from the last century.

The museum's permanent exhibition "Kaustinen Fiddle Playing - A Living Heritage" presents a diverse overview of the musical heritage of Kaustinen and the surrounding area, which was added to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at 2021. In addition to viewing objects, pictures, and listening to recordings, visitors to the exhibition can participate in the living tradition themselves with the help of instructional videos: playing Tutskov's polska on the violin, Halsua's waltz on the kantele, Maalarin Franssin sotiisi on the harmonium, or dancing the Kaustinen flikuleeri. Children can also explore the subject with the help of the Instrument Detective and the Careful Researcher task cards. The exhibition is trilingual (Finnish, Swedish, English).

Most of the instruments in the Finnish Folk Instrument Museum have been catalogued and photographed in the Folk Music Institute's database.

Admission to the museum is free, and it is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for groups by appointment, and from morning to evening during the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival. Contact the museum administrator to book a presentation, lecture, workshop, or other folk music event suitable for your group.