Yes, indeed, this is the 28th FinnFest USA, attracting again thousands of participants from all over the world — mostly from the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Finland. And in 2011, for the first time ever, the FinnFest USA will be held in the southernmost California, in San Diego — the 8th largest city in the United States of America.

What is FinnFest USA? It is an annual meeting of people involved in the Finnish-American or American-Finnish world as immigrants, family members, relatives, friends, business executives, employees, government officials, students, researchers, scientists, journalists, artists — or just of pure interest. Also, the local citizens are welcome to share the unique FinnFest USA feeling. For more information, please read:

What's new in FinnFest 2011? For the first time, the FinnFest is actually a month-long event. The Mayor of the City of San Diego has signed a proclamation to declare August 2011 to be the Month of Finland in San Diego. The traditional FinnFest weekend will be, of course, the highlight of the festivities and it has been scheduled in the middle of the month of August. Also, for the first time in the FinnFest history, the Government of Finland is participating in planning of the program.

Why San Diego? San Diego is the 8th largest city in the USA with its 1,3 million inhabitants. Its location is excellent in many ways.
For tourists — come alone or with the family — San Diego is within easy flying distance of Los Angeles (with Hollywood & Disneyland), San Francisco (Silicon Valley & Napa vineyards), Las Vegas (incredible Casinos, Shows, desert), and Phoenix (The Grand Canyon). And it is only a 30 minutes trip by car or trolley from the city of Tijuana, Mexico. The San Diego/Mexico Border Check-Point is the busiest in the world with million people crossing the board annually. San Diego itself is a very friendly family destination with the Wild Animal Park and Zoo, Sea World, Balboa Park, Legoland, Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum, Maritime Museum, Modern Art Museum, Petco Park Stadium, Historic Old Town, Downtown Gaslamp Quarter — and with hundreds of miles of Pacific Ocean beaches with white sand and blue surf. In addition, San Diego is home to huge national and state-designed parks and forests full of wildlife, mountains, and desert. San Diego is also home to some of the world's best gold courses, including Torrey Pines. And — as the reminder of the real world we are living in — San Diego is the Naval Base of the US Pacific Fleet with hundreds of ships: aircraft carriers, submarines, airplanes, hospital ships, and military cargo ships. Military airfields and training camps — including Camp Pendelton — are located here. Read more about San Diego for visitors at San Diego Convention and Visitor Bureau.