Location: Duluth, MN
Venue: Duluth Entertainment Convention Center

Over 5000 people registered to attend the festival held at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC) on the shores of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota. Adding those who visited the festival site or bought tickets to a single event, some 10,000 people attended some or all of the FinnFest. Like Marquette, this region of the United States has one of the highest concentrations of Finnish Americans in the country, so it was assumed that this festival would achieve large attendance figures.

Programming highlights included the following:
2008 lectures and workshops: The FinnFestUSA experience created four days of lectures, panels and workshops involving people from across the USA, Canada, and Finland. Two major highlights involved the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen: She was first awarded an Honorary Doctor’s degree by the University of Minnesota-Duluth, followed by a major address by President Halonen. She also participated in a panel discussion on women’s issues. Five women discussed issues related to women and leadership in a session attended by approximately 500 interested listeners. The Minnesota Orchestra with its conductor, Osmo Vänskä, performed an all Finnish music concert on Friday night, a concert attended by over 1,000 people. Other progrmaming: Drama productions, social dances every evening, art exhibitions. More details can be found in the FinnFest History (PDF).