| Status: | Active |
| Genre: | Music Festival |
| Date: | Mid July |
| Frequency: | Annually |
| Location: | Kåfjord Municipality |
| Country: | Norway |
| Years Active: | 1991 – present |
| Last: | 10–14 July 2019 |
Riddu Riđđu (in Northern Sami pronounced as /ˈridː.tuː ˌrið.ðuː/) is an annual Sámi music and culture festival held in Olmmáivággi (Manndalen) in the Gáivuotna Municipality (also known as Kåfjord Municipality) in Norway. The goal of the festival is to bring forward both Sámi culture and that of other indigenous peoples. Translated to English, the name of the festival is "small storm at the coast". The festival has permanent support from the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs, the Sámi parliament, Troms county and Kåfjord municipality.[1]
Riddu Riđđu includes concerts, seminars, performances, youth camp, stage art, literature, children's program, Northern People's program, youth camp, film program, courses (workshops), art exhibition, market (bazaar), indigenous houses and much more.
The 30th festival was to be held 8–12 July 2020; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 festival was cancelled.[2]
The festival was launched by a group of young Sámi on New Year's Eve 1991 at Olmmáivággi (Norwegian: Manndalen). This was a decade after the Sámi cultural revitalization started. Before that time, the Norwegian government attempted to assimilate the indigenous Sámi into the Norwegian majority population. In Olmmáivággi almost all of the previously majority Sámi population now considered themselves as Norwegian.
During the 1990s, the anti-Sámi sentiment was especially strong in the area with Sámi road-signs being shot to pieces and families being split. A group of youth started to ask questions such as: "Why did they [the Norwegian government] take away from us the Sámi language? Why do we hide our Sea-Sámi identity and culture? Why are we ashamed [of being Sámi]?" This started a Sámi youth organization that among other things organized the Riddu Riđđu festival.[3] [4]
The first festival was arranged in 1991 and has since been arranged annually. In 1998, the Riddu Riđđu Searvi organization was established and has since been responsible for arranging the festival. In 2018, Sandra Márjá West became the festival manager.
The festival was opened by Queen Sonja in 2016.[5] In 2017, the then Minister of Culture Trine Skei Grande was responsible for the opening.