New producer for Ijahis Idja – Minna Lehtola started as the planner of the Sámi Music Centre

Minna Lehtola started as a planner at the Sámi Parliament’s Sámi Music Centre in mid-January. The Sámi Parliament’s board appointed Lehtola to the planner position at its meeting 14/2025 (November 19, 2025). The Sámi Parliament’s Sámi Music Centre activities are led by a planner, whose main area of responsibility and task is to act as producer of the Ijahis Idja Indigenous Peoples’ Music Festival.

“It is a great pleasure to work with Sámi culture from the perspective of event production. Ijahis Idja has a long tradition and the festival is one of the highlights of late summer for many. It’s wonderful to be involved in organizing the event.”

Lehtola studied cultural production at the Humak University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä and Sámi culture as her major at the University of Oulu. Previously, she has worked, among other things, in the Dihtosis project at the Sámi Parliament and as an exhibition assistant at the Siida Sámi Museum.

The Ijahis Idja Indigenous Peoples’ Music Festival has been held in Inari since 2004. This year the festival will be held on August 14–15, 2026.