The board

The people behind the festival

Aarhus Folk Festival has taken place every year since 2016 and has been organised as an association since 2017. The festival is run as a non-profit by a volunteer board that arranges concerts, curates the programme and coordinates with external organisers.

Board members

Chair of the board and fundraiser

Johanne Buus Andersen

Johanne trained as a flautist at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and works across disciplines, from theatre and performance to musical installations. She plays in Buus & Buffas, Duo Buus and Valfart and has led several projects of her own, most recently Kantate LAB. Alongside this she teaches flute at the Vejle school of music and culture and serves on the board of the association Musikbevægelsen af 2019.

Board member

Thomas Haagen Birch

Thomas works as a test manager at the technology company Terma and plays guitar in several folk bands rooted in Swedish, Danish and Balkan music, including the trio Ragna, whose album came out in 2025. He has previously served on the board of Dronemusik Danmark.

Treasurer

Jan Dehlholm

Jan is a retired blacksmith and fiddler who has played traditional Danish music for almost 50 years, among others with the fiddle band Maltekspressen. He has been on the board since the association started in 2017 and has been its treasurer since 2019.

Board member

Hanne Eriksen

Hanne is a retired social educator and folk musician. She plays the accordion in Spillemandslauget Østjyderne and in the trio Maries Kiks, and together with her husband she started the ball event Kom Folk: DANS, today the festival's big dance attraction. Hanne also chairs Samrådet for Amatørkultur in Aarhus, and at the festival she is the one in the kitchen when bands and volunteers share a meal.

Board member

Lauge Johannes Hansen

Lauge trained on the folk music programme at MGK in Kolding with piano as his main subject and has served on the boards of the youth folk gatherings ROD and FOD. He has taught piano at the music schools in Kolding and Vejle, is now studying history at Aarhus University and is also an organiser, musician and dance instructor with Nordisk Dans Aarhus.

Deputy members

Deputy member

Louise Ring Vangsgaard

Louise trained at the Centre for Rhythmic Music and Movement with voice as her main instrument and is also a qualified Suzuki violin teacher. She is an active folk musician focused on the Nordic and Irish repertoire and plays in LYD, Tradish, Prisme, Instinkt, The Happy River Band and Reformationen Rocker, among others. Louise is one of the driving forces behind the Irish jam at Waxies every Sunday and also serves on the board of Roots Aarhus.

Deputy member

Kasper Krog

Kasper studied philosophy at Aarhus University and also has a background in web design. He has played guitar and piano for almost 20 years but is happiest working around the music, creating a good setting and letting others blossom. Kasper is a keen folk dancer and a volunteer at the venue Turkis, and at the festival he mainly looks after the website and the practical side of things.

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