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 The
Tango Museum Olavi Virta - Tangon & Viihteen Hovi
in Seinäjoki was first opened in 1995 by an Association
Promoting Tango and Popular Music in Finland. Since
then the museum has expanded and it was open throughout
the year offering visitors a chance to familiarise
themselves with the past and the present of the
Finnish popular music.
At the moment the Tango Museum is closed until further
notice.
Royal
Tango
The main figure of the museum is Olavi Virta. He
is considered as the true King of Tango and is often
compared to the legendary Frank Sinatra. During
his long career as a singer and entertainer Virta
made close to 600 recordings, out of which 130 were
tangos, performed in altogether 16 movies and appeared
in several plays and musicals, just to name a few.
However, Olavi Virta is not the only artist whose
life work is displayed in the museum. Instruments,
records, costumes and other material from dozens
of famous Finnish artists guide the visitor through
the decades of Finland's musical history. The trophies
and costumes of the Tango Kings and Queens form
a great part of the exhibition. The titles are earned
by the winners of the Tango Singing Contest that
is held yearly at the Tango Festival. This contest
is the most popular event of the festival and it
is also recognised nation-wide. In fact, one of
the more popular 'sights' in the museum is the showcase
displaying costumes, records and pictures of Jari
Sillanpää, the 1995 Tango King who is still the
favourite singer of the tango audience. The most
popular Tango Queen of all times is Arja Koriseva;
she won her title in 1989 and also her costume is
shown in the museum.
Seinäjoki
Tango Festival
 The
Tango Museum has an archive that includes for example
newspaper articles, posters, books, records, musical
notes and videos in connection with the Tango Festival
Organisation. The archive is now beeing placed in
the office of the Tangokeskus-project (address:
Torikeskus, 2nd floor, Seinäjoki).
The Tango Festival was first introduced in 1985,
and after that it has grown into a mega-festival;
last year the total number of visitors in this 5-day
festival was nearly 100,000. The festival offers
something for everybody; there are concerts, dance
contests and shopping. But the festival is best
known for two things: for the Tango Singing Contest
and the Street Dance where people dance tango on
the street from morning till night, even with umbrellas
if it happens to rain.
The Tango Museum is especially proud to present
the Argentinean Tango as a part of the exhibition.
In March 2000 Seinäjoki and Buenos Aires signed
a contract which made the two cities the leading
Tango Cities of the world. In the museum you can
find for example books and recordings from Argentina.
Nostalgic Experience
The museum is continuously collecting new material.
The museum is also interested in hearing stories
from the past times that are awakened by the nostalgia
of the exhibition; they bring the past alive again.
There are about 3,000 visitors in the museum each
year, the peak season being summer and especially
the Tango Festival.
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