Finland’s election day coffee tradition unites all kinds of voters

Life & society Politics

Finland generally has strong voter participation; it’s no exaggeration to say that many people consider it a civic duty. The first round of the 2024 presidential election, for example, drew 75 percent voter participation (77.3 percent among women and 72.5 for men).

One unofficial aspect of elections doesn’t show up in the statistics, although you could argue that it contributes to voter turnout. To mimic a phrase that has become well known in political campaigning, “It’s the coffee, stupid.”

Combine elections with Finland’s robust coffee-drinking culture and you have the longstanding Finnish tradition of election day coffee. After doing your part by voting, it’s time to stop at a nearby café or a friend’s place for a cup of coffee and perhaps a pastry. If your polling station is in a school building, kids and parents may be operating a popup café to raise money for a class trip.

A coffee-worthy occasion

In a large room, people are sitting at a long table, with several voting booths in the background.

Showing your ID and going into a booth to cast your vote is a small but momentous action.Photo: Emilia Kangasluoma

People in Finland drink the most coffee per capita of any country in the world, consuming more than 12 kilograms (26.5 pounds) annually, according to the International Coffee Association.

However, drinking coffee is not just about the quantity. Whether it’s a coffee break with your colleagues or the symbolic recognition of a significant milestone such as casting your vote, it’s often associated with a social occasion, a feeling of togetherness.

During a recent nationwide election, we ventured out into Helsinki to engage people in conversation about the Finnish phenomenon – yes, phenomenon – of election day coffee. Along the way, we consumed a great deal of caffeine and enjoyed surprisingly wide-ranging discussions about coffee’s place in Finnish hearts, culture and election day traditions.

Voting and coffee go together

A stylishly dressed older woman sits at a table in front of a cup of coffee and a vase of pink flowers.

Ann-Helen has a voting history that extends back to the 1960s, and she has gone for coffee after almost every vote she has cast.Photo: Emilia Kangasluoma

Ann-Helen has just cast her ballot at an advance voting location in Oodi, Helsinki’s central library, an architectural and cultural landmark popular with Helsinkians and tourists alike. She is a retired psychologist and psychoanalyst, and has a voting history that extends back to the 1960s.

She sits down with a cup of black coffee at Oodi’s third-floor café, where we have a view of the silvery hull of the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, the stately stone pillars of Parliament and the all-glass façade of the Music Centre.

For Ann-Helen, as for many people in Finland, voting and coffee go together. She usually chooses a savoury snack to go with her election day coffee, rather than a sweet desert.

“After the previous presidential election I didn’t go for coffee, and it felt wrong somehow,” she says. “Apart from that time, I’ve always gone for coffee.” She has been a widow for some years now, she says. “It was nicer to go together, but I still go – here I am.”

Deciding who to vote for was easy, Ann-Helen says. “I had two candidates in mind, and I thought it over on my way here.” This is the second time she has made use of the option to vote early. “Just to make sure that nothing keeps me from voting,” she says.

How does it feel to have voted? “It’s a satisfying feeling.” With advance voting under way and election Sunday approaching, she says, “When you run into people you know, you always have to ask them, ‘Have you voted yet?’”

Getting fancy

Beside a baby in a stroller, a smiling woman holding a coffee cup sits at a table with a pot of daffodils on it.

Tähti is starting an election day coffee tradition for her family.Photo: Emilia Kangasluoma

On a sunny but brisk spring day, Tähti walks to a seaside café on Market Square after casting her vote at Helsinki City Hall. A chilly breeze is blowing, but a tent-like pavilion keeps patrons, servers and journalists cosy.

One-year-old Nietos looks on from his pram while his mother savours a cup of coffee and a jam-filled pastry. She breaks off a piece of it for him to chew on.

Tähti is a cellist and a music teacher. She and her family are living in Helsinki for a year while her partner completes his student teaching for his pedagogical studies. After that, they plan to return to the central western city of Tampere.

“It was nice to vote at City Hall because I’d never been inside before,” she says. “Voting there felt fancier than going to the local library, which is where I’ve usually voted.”

She doesn’t come from a family that emphasises election day coffee, but she has decided to adopt the custom. “I know it goes from one generation to the next,” she says. “Now that I have a one-year-old, it’s a good time to start. It’s the first time he has come with me to vote. I can create a tradition for our family.”

More important than ever

A cup of coffee and an almost rectangular pastry are on a Marimekko floral-pattern tablecloth.

This pastry only vaguely resembles the animal from which it gets its name: possu, or “pig.”Photo: Emilia Kangasluoma

Tähti is attracted to the idea because the ritual of going for coffee “makes casting your vote feel a bit more ceremonious.” It’s funny how coffee and pastries can encourage people to get to the polls.

“Voting seems more important than ever,” says Tähti. “Back when I was studying, I might have thought that one vote couldn’t matter. But for many years now, I’ve voted in every single election.”

She continues, “With the unusual world situation, you really start to see you can’t necessarily assume that democracy is permanent. When I was younger, maybe I took that for granted.”

Nietos is still chomping away at his piece of dough, craning his neck to see the chirping birds that are hopping around searching for crumbs.

“Having a child also changes the way you think,” Tähti says.

Coffee among friends

A woman and a man are sitting in a sunlit café and smiling and holding coffee cups.

For Saana (left) and Vesa, election day coffee is a way to celebrate voting and encourage others to go, as well. Photo: Emilia Kangasluoma

We meet Saana and Vesa at Café Monami, located in a venerable manor house on the eastern outskirts of the Finnish capital. Both are longtime Helsinki residents but grew up more than 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Helsinki, near Kaustinen, the home of a large annual folk music festival.

Music became a part of their lives: Saana is a freelance musician, and Vesa, an all-around tech worker, sometimes moonlights as a concert sound technician.

As they make progress on large slices of dangerously delectable cake, they talk about what election day was like in the small towns where they grew up.

As a child, Vesa often accompanied his parents and relatives to the polling station. “There was something exciting about it,” he says. “It was so official.” Coffee was served afterwards.

“I remember noticing how important voting was for people, particularly older people,” says Vesa. Many would put on their best clothes to go to the polling station, and some people still do.

“It was a dignified, earnest occasion,” says Saana. “And then you celebrated by going for coffee. Finnish people have such a strong coffee culture anyway. There’s always a daily coffee break. But on election day, it’s more festive and stately.”

She’s not sure if her father used to have coffee after voting, because he always went in the evening, just before the polling place closed. “That was his tradition,” she says. “He always said that somebody had to go that late, so the election officials wouldn’t feel like they sat there all evening for nothing.”

Talking about talkoot

A cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake are arranged on a table.

We believe you will agree that there is something sweet about the tradition of election day coffee.Photo: Emilia Kangasluoma

While voting itself is an individual act, it’s also part of a collective effort, of course.

“I always vote,” says Vesa. “It’s nice to keep up the tradition, and it’s important to society, too.”

Saana thinks that it’s self-evident. “You don’t lose anything by voting,” she says. “Why wouldn’t I vote?”

Vesa believes that your attitude about voting, whether negative or positive, will rub off on those around you. “It seems like election day coffee is part of encouraging others to vote,” he says. “It’s a way of expressing, ‘I voted. You go and vote, too.’”

In other words, coffee – and don’t forget about pastries – gives people a tasty excuse to make a big deal out of voting. He theorises that it may be more fun to post a mouthwatering election day coffee photo on social media than just a message saying “I voted!”

On a symbolic level, the visible, sociable tradition of election day coffee makes clear that voting — and governing — is a shared effort, regardless of which party you choose. (The ballot typically includes a dozen or more parties. Usually, eight to ten of them have enough support to win seats in Parliament.)

The discussion brings to mind the Finnish word talkoot, meaning an event where people get together to chip in and accomplish a large job. Working towards a common goal increases the feeling of community.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, talkoot always includes a coffee break, too.

Voting in Finland

Free and fair elections, covered by a free and independent press, form a cornerstone of democracy.

All eligible voters are automatically registered to vote (the voting age is 18). They receive notification digitally or via regular mail in advance of each election, including the address of their local polling place for election day, as well as a list of locations for advance voting.

Some parents bring their kids with them to the polling place to get them interested, hoping the tradition will carry over to the next generation.

The whole voting process takes a few minutes. You show your ID, they check your name off the list, and you receive a folded card. You go into a booth and write the number of your candidate inside the card. Then they stamp the front of the card and you place it into a slot in a sealed box.

More info about elections in Finland here.

By Peter Marten, April 2025

Election time: Finland’s foreign residents cast their votes in county and municipal elections

Life & society Politics

Free and fair elections, covered by a free and independent press, form a cornerstone of democracy.

Finland holds presidential elections (at six-year intervals), parliamentary elections (four-year intervals), European Parliament elections (five-year intervals) and, last but not least, combined county and municipal elections (four-year intervals).

Foreigners living in Finland can vote in county and municipal elections (held on April 13, 2025). It’s a chance to get involved in the political process as a voter or a candidate, to make their views known and have some influence on the future direction of society.

Hanging out at the library

A man sits on a set of wooden steps while a small girl plays in the foreground.

Navid, a longtime resident of Finland originally from Afghanistan, and his daughter have space to play in the kids’ section of Oodi, Helsinki’s central library.Photo: Emilia Kangasluoma

One of the numerous polling places available for advance voting is located on the top floor of Oodi, Helsinki’s central library and one of the city’s architectural landmarks. The children’s section is on the same level, complete with a spacious play area. Dozens of prams are parked in rows nearby, a sign of the location’s popularity among Helsinki families.

Navid, a welder by profession, recently moved to Helsinki from the northern Finnish city of Oulu. Originally from Afghanistan, he has lived in Finland for nine years.

While keeping an eye on his daughter, Aliisa, he tells us “I believe it’s an important thing” to be able to vote. However, he’s not going to cast his vote today at Oodi, he says. The reason becomes obvious as Aliisa grabs his hand and pulls him toward the play area.

Superimportant participation

A man sits in a chair holding a small child, with bookshelves and tables in the background.

Fabio, an Italian who lives in Finland with his family, values the chance to cast his vote in local elections.Photo: Emilia Kangasluoma

Not far away, Fabio, an Italian who has lived in Finland for 12 years, is sitting with his son, Leonardo.

“It’s superimportant,” says Fabio, when asked what it means to him to be able to participate in the election. “I’m not a citizen, but I’m a resident, so it’s good that I can vote for the mayor of the city I live in.” He adds that it’s “quite nice to be able to vote in advance.”

Leonardo is his third child. “Nowadays, I have a family, so family issues are important to me,” Fabio says. We have caught him on the last day of a three-month parental leave. Soon he will return to his job as a researcher at the Central Bank of Finland and Leonardo will start daycare, joining his two older sisters.

“Waaah,” says Leonardo, as if making a good-natured comment about what his dad just said.

Who gets to vote in which election?

In a spacious room, several people are walking to wooden booths standing beside a desk and bookshelves.

People head for the voting booths at an advance voting location in Oodi, Helsinki’s central library.Photo: Emilia Kangasluoma

How big is the foreign-resident contingent of the Finnish electorate? At the time of writing, more than 411,000 foreign nationals live in Finland, according to Statistics Finland. That comprises 7.3 percent of the total population of 5.6 million, and does not include foreign-born people who have Finnish citizenship. In Helsinki and the surrounding region, foreign nationals make up more than 12 percent of the inhabitants.

Presidential and parliamentary elections require Finnish citizenship, and EU citizens living in Finland can vote in European Parliament elections. In county and municipal elections, however, foreign residents who have been living in Finland for at least two years have the right to vote and run for office.

In most of the country, people vote on the same day for one candidate in their county election and one in their municipal election. Helsinki is a municipality that stands on its own, without a county, so Helsinkians cast votes in only one election.

All eligible voters are automatically registered to vote (the voting age is 18). They receive notification digitally or via snail mail in advance of each election, including the address of their local polling place and a list of locations for advance voting. For the April 2025 county and municipal elections, the 4,270,942 eligible voters included 260,047 foreign nationals, or 6.1 percent of the total.

More info about elections in Finland here.

By Peter Marten, April 2025

Finnish American designer Ervin Latimer creates inclusive fashion

Life & society Fashion

Fashion designer Ervin Latimer seems to fit comfortably between high fashion and mass market. He shows his clothing at prestigious international fashion weeks, and then designs pieces for a Finnish hypermarket chain. He might host a runway show in bright red drag but considers himself pragmatic. His collections have been featured in Vogue but he doesn’t care who wears his designs.

Latimer’s clothes resemble traditional menswear silhouettes such as two-piece suits and button-up shirts, but they are designed to be worn regardless of the wearer’s gender, body shape or identity. Little tweaks make the clothes adjustable to different bodies and occasions.

“I design clothes that represent masculinity,” he says. “They’re not meant for a specific gender, but for people who want to express or perform masculinity.”

This brings us to the main tenet of Latimer’s design philosophy: he is, first and foremost, a values-driven designer. He stands for gender equality and equity, inclusivity, anti-racism and queer culture – all important parts of his identity, too, as the homosexual son of a Finnish mother and an African American father.

“Designers wield a lot of power,” Latimer says. “We share our visions of what we think people and their bodies should look like, and how they can or cannot express themselves. I feel like I am responsible for creating an inclusive and equitable vision.”

He wants people who are curious about their masculine side to look at his clothes and think, oh, I can see myself wearing this. This is for me. He also wants his clothes to be practical for sitting in a bus as well as in a limousine.

A career born out of finding one’s footing

Finnish American fashion designer Ervin Latimer talks about his design ideology (filmed at Paimio Sanatorium, a 1933 architectural masterpiece by Alvar and Aino Aalto).
Video: ThisisFINLAND

Latimer’s brand, Latimmier, was born out of the designer’s search for his place in society, wanting to see himself and his values represented in the world around him. There have always been and still are marginalised groups of people who are not as visible as others, Latimer says. Founding a creative brand was his way of positioning himself in a continuum of lesser-represented creatives in this country – and finding what Finnishness looks like for him.

It was never Latimer’s childhood dream to become a fashion designer. However, from an early age he watched his aunt effortlessly knitting jumpers and her grandmother doing crafts at home. He studied visual arts in high school, where he didn’t feel out of place in the upcycled clothes he’d bought at flea markets.

He worked in retail while studying fashion design at a university of applied sciences, and eventually got his master’s at Aalto University’s reputable fashion design programme. He also cofounded and was the managing editor of Ruskeat Tytöt Media, Finland’s first culture media for Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC).

Launching with a bang

A man in a fashionable suit is sitting in a chair, leaning on one armrest to look into the camera.

Photo: Mikael Niemi

Latimer remembers the first time he was interviewed by Finnish news outlets. Soon after showcasing his grad collection, he had been awarded the title of Finnish Young Designer of the Year, a prize given to promising design students annually since the 1990s.

He put his original twist on the competition’s theme: multifunctionality. He used his newly found platform to highlight issues he wanted to tackle in the industry:

“Usually, a body has to adapt to a piece of clothing. You must be a certain shape or size to fit in a certain piece. But what if it was the other way around? What if a piece of clothing could adapt to a person’s body?”

So he designed clothes that were adjustable, reversible and gender-neutral – aesthetic and meticulously tailored, yet wearable and approachable.

In January 2022, the Latimmier brand was launched with a bang at Pitti Uomo, the world’s leading menswear event, in Florence, Italy. Latimer took to the stage as his drag queen alter ego Anna Konda to introduce his collection.

The oversized suits with intentional slashes and gaps were designed to play with the concept of masculinity and were worn by models of different genders, body types and sexual identities. Among others, the New York Times covered the show and its roots in drag culture. Ervin Latimer had officially arrived.

Practice what you preach

A blue robe is arranged in a chair as if the garment is sitting there.

From the pages of Vogue to a Finnish hypermarket, Ervin Latimer designs clothes that work for almost any body type, gender or occasion. Photo: Mikael Niemi

Outside the spotlight, Latimer has spent a lot of time thinking about how to justify the existence of yet another clothing brand. The world doesn’t need any more textiles, he agrees. What it does need, though, are fair workplaces, sustainable working conditions and fresh air blown into an industry that’s based on exclusivity and restrictiveness. In other words, he uses his skills as a designer to implement positive change in attitudes.

“I’d like to shine a light on what happens behind closed doors in company boards and executive teams,” he says. “Who calls the shots and who profits? Who gets the opportunity to work and why? If the brand imagery is very inclusive, but the company itself isn’t, that’s not sustainable.”

Latimer practices what he preaches. He recently designed a gender-neutral collection for K-Citymarket, a hypermarket chain owned by Finnish retail giant Kesko. It was the first time in its history that the chain sold gender-neutral clothing.

The Freedom collection did what Latimer tends to do: it broke the norm. The clothes have the feel of designer clothes (sharp button-up shirts, luxurious loungewear), but they’re meant for all kinds of bodies. The collection was modelled and photographed by a diverse team, and some of the prints were designed by Finnish Guinean queer artist Gabby Electra. The clothes were made in Europe.

“According to Kesko’s survey, every second Finn occasionally buys clothes at a hypermarket,” says Latimer. “If you want to influence consumer behaviour and attitudes, you have to be where people make their purchases.”

No more burnouts

In a close-up portrait, a man in a fashionable shirt and suit smiles slightly at the camera.

Photo: Mikael Niemi

Ervin Latimer is also a vocal advocate for humane working conditions. Having been through burnout, he doesn’t want to overwork himself or anyone else.

“I’m lucky to get to do this work on my terms, but sometimes that blinds me: I forget my boundaries. I’ve learned it the hard way, but I don’t want to make compromises when it comes to resting. At the end of the day, I’m just human,” he says.

The people he employs are fairly compensated. If that’s not possible, he doesn’t hire interns. These things might sound self-evident to a layperson but are not very common in the fashion industry.

“I’ve done internships and junior positions in big fashion houses and seen how ruthless it can be. I have a chance to do things differently. A lot of heritage brands are constantly talking about making a better tomorrow. Why wait until tomorrow, if you can improve now?”

Settling down in the country he calls home

A person walks along a terrace on the top floor of a building, with treetops in the background.

The historical Paimio Sanatorium building: Like Latimer, architects Alvar and Aino Aalto believed great design should be accessible to all.Photo: Mikael Niemi

Latimer isn’t sure whether it is for him to say if he has found his place in the design landscape yet. He’s in his mid-30s, his brand is young, and right now he wishes he could keep doing what he does for a long time – in a way that’s sustainable in more ways than one.

Part of why Latimer likes his home country Finland so much is its infrastructure, which often makes his life easier. He has lived and worked in the US, Italy and other countries, and enjoys their big cities and opportunities. But it’s the little things here that he appreciates the most: reliability and practicality.

“Even on those Fridays when I’m exhausted after a long work week, I can always count on the bus being on time and taking me home.”

By Kristiina Ella Markkanen, ThisisFINLAND Magazine, April 2025

Eight years in a row: Finland remains in first place in World Happiness Report – other Nordics in top 7

Life & society Finnishness

Every year on the International Day of Happiness, March 20, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network releases the World Happiness Report. In the 2025 edition, Finland once more tops the list of the happiest countries in the world – for the eighth year running.

The other Nordic countries also maintained their places from the previous year: Denmark in second, Iceland third, Sweden fourth and Norway seventh.

The report’s main list, “Country rankings by life evaluations,” compares the answers to one of the more than 100 questions in the Gallup World Poll. The question is: On a scale of zero to ten, where do you place your own life (with zero being the worst possible life and ten being the best possible life)?

These “life evaluations” put the focus on people’s contentedness with life. The report uses an average of the three most recent years to arrive at its list of the happiest countries.

A framework for building happiness

Several cyclists rides across a bridge on a sunny day, with buildings visible in the background.

Cyclists enjoy great weather in Tampere, Finland.Photo: Jukka Salminen/Visit Tampere

When a country possesses a longstanding reputation for happiness, people tend to ask what the recipe is. There is no single answer, of course.

However, Finland has fostered what they call the “infrastructure of happiness.” The country has constructed and maintained the culture and the social institutions that form the basis and framework for individuals and communities to build their happiness.

Nations can take steps to encourage happiness – to help happiness happen. Research shows life satisfaction correlates with a well-functioning society that provides healthcare, social security and labour market access.

ThisisFINLAND has interviewed people – Finns and foreigners – about how they perceive happiness in Finland. In “My happy place in Finland,” four expats explain how living in Finland contributes to their view of happiness. In “We asked people in Finland what makes them happy,” passers-by in Helsinki give a wide range of answers. (Both articles include videos.)

Caring and sharing

A group of people wearing bathing suits and holding towels are at a waterside location.

Sauna and swimming are great ways to relax in the Finnish capital, according to Helsinki Happiness Hacks, compiled by ThisisFINLAND’s friends over at Visit Finland.Photo: Svante Gullichsen/Visit Finland

The 2025 World Happiness Report is 260 pages long. What else is in it?

Each year, the authors delve into happiness-related topics to paint a broad picture of issues that affect people. The focus in 2025 is “the impact of caring and sharing on people’s happiness.”

How do they measure something like that? They look at people’s answers to questions about the benevolence of others. If you lost your wallet and a stranger or a neighbour or a police officer found it, do you expect they would return it? Finland scores high on the “wallet indicator,” showing that people trust their fellow citizens.

The report states, “All international wallet-dropping experiments have shown Finland and the other Nordic countries to be among the best places to lose your wallet.”

Links to wellbeing

A man and a woman wearing winter hats and sporty clothing and holding skis ride a tram.

When wintering in Tampere, try taking the tram to a forest where you can go cross-country skiing.Photo: Laura Vanzo/Visit Tampere

There’s also data about how often people eat together. (Research shows that “dining alone is not good for your wellbeing,” and that sharing meals with others has a strong link with wellbeing in all regions of the globe.) Family meals remain a strong tradition in Finland: 81 percent of families with children eat together at least once a day.

Giving money to charity, doing volunteer work and helping strangers are also connected with caring behaviour. While Finland does not top those tables, the authors of the report suggest that there are other factors involved.

This brings us back to the Finnish infrastructure of happiness. Finland “has universally available and high-quality health, education and social support systems,” the report notes. Since “inequality of wellbeing is low,” there is “a correspondingly lower need for private charity.”

Finland and its infrastructure of happiness

Trust plays a vital role, and in Finland, trust extends beyond personal relationships to public institutions, governance and even strangers.

Good governance and a political system that is transparent, accountable and committed to the rule of law.

A societal framework combining stability and safety nets, so individuals can make life choices without fear of failure.

A strong sense of shared responsibility promotes a fair and just society, central to happiness. Over 90 percent consider paying taxes an important civic duty.

Participation and dialogue: active participation and open dialogue between the public and the authorities foster inclusion and empowerment. Freedom of expression promotes transparency and a thriving democracy.

Equality and social justice: Finland’s commitment to equality, including gender equality and strong protections for minorities, fosters a socially inclusive environment that contributes to overall happiness.

Education and information: Finland’s world-class education system ensures equal access to high-quality learning, empowering individuals to succeed. Strong press freedom and media literacy enable citizens to navigate information critically, creating an informed and engaged society.

Connection with nature is a valued part of daily life and wellbeing. The Finns’ access to and immersion in nature promotes calmness and contentment and reduces stress.

Simplicity and sauna: Finnish culture is deeply rooted in an appreciation for simplicity, functionality and the significance of life’s small moments. At the heart of this is the sauna, a space where Finns unwind, disconnect from daily pressures and reconnect with themselves and others in a meaningful way.

Finnish society is built to support a balanced life, prioritising personal wellbeing alongside professional commitments. Work policies and social structures enable a lifestyle of productivity and personal fulfillment.

By ThisisFINLAND staff, March 2025

Finnish comic artist Kaisa Leka breaks preconceptions about disabilities and being outdoors

Life & society Equality

“Landing on the island was very difficult because of the wind and the waves. Suddenly, people appeared from the lighthouse with helmets on their heads and brooms in their hands.”

This kayaking trip to the Märket lighthouse, located on a small treeless island on the Finnish-Swedish border, is one of Kaisa Leka’s all-time favourite memories. It has everything she wants in an adventure: beautiful nature, physical activity and a reminder that even though trouble may be inevitable, things usually turn out just fine. The people were volunteers working in the lighthouse, hurrying to the kayakers to guide them to a safer landing spot.

And the helmets and brooms? Protection from terns, seabirds nesting on the remote skerry in the vast Finnish archipelago.

“That was a very exceptional kayaking trip, with a very exceptional welcome, in a very exceptional place. We camped there for three days as the wind picked up again. The volunteers heated the sauna for us so we could wash up,” she recalls her story, smiling.

Adventures on new feet

Finnish comic artist Kaisa Leka tells us about her life and work.
Video: ThisisFINLAND

Kaisa Leka is an award-winning comic artist and an unlikely adventurer who wants to show that the outdoors is for everyone.

She was born with “funny feet,” as she puts it, that caused her increasing pain and difficulties in moving. At 23 years old, she had her feet amputated from below the knees, an experience she has documented in her acclaimed graphic novel I Am Not These Feet.

She began using prosthetic legs. The prosthetics allowed Kaisa to move around more freely. First, she started to do little bike rides. Soon, short rides turned into overnight adventures. And before she knew it, she was cycling lengthwise across Finland from Porvoo in the south to the Arctic Sea in the northernmost part of Norway with her husband, Christoffer. When they reached the vast open spaces of Lapland, Leka suddenly understood the magnitude of her accomplishment.

“I was thinking to myself: This cannot be real. I’ve cycled all the way up here.”

Leka’s adventure resume makes for an impressive read: cycling across the United States, paddling from the White Sea to the Baltic Sea, tackling the mountains of Morocco on a bicycle. Even though many of her adventures are weeks or months long, she consciously aims to appreciate the small outings closer to home in Porvoo.

“Heading outside and cycling for two kilometres on a sunny winter’s day or going to the local outdoor recreation area with snacks can be enough.”

Nature is for everyone

A woman with prosthetic feet is standing on one foot between a tent and two kayaks on a large oceanside rock.

Photo: Christoffer Leka

While Finland is widely known for its forests, lakes and fells, Leka recommends everyone visit the archipelago. She believes a kayak is the best way – and often the most accessible way – to explore the sea and its countless islands and skerries.

“We are all equally small before the sea. When I’m on the water, I feel that my disability does not really impact my mobility.”

Kaisa uses her work, art and social media presence to inspire everyone to go out and explore.

“I want to break the preconceptions people have about disability and what being outdoors as a person with a disability means,” she says.

In recent years, authorities and organisations have built wheelchair-accessible routes, rest areas and toilets in many Finnish national parks and recreational areas. Leka has also been involved in a project that develops more accessible nature services for people on the autism spectrum or with other disabilities.

Leka is a huge fan of Finland’s famous “everyone’s right”, the law that allows everyone to enjoy nature, pick berries and mushrooms, or fish with a rod and line, regardless of who owns the land.

“Everyone’s rights should apply regardless of functional ability or any other factor. Nature is for everyone.”

Kaisa Leka’s tips for visiting Finland

The Baltic Sea Archipelago “The scenery is unlike anywhere else. Visiting the lighthouses is a unique experience; you can reach many of them by boat or kayak.”

The forested hills of Kainuu, eastern Finland “One of my favourite views in Finland, the hills are simply beautiful. My father is from this region, so I spent a lot of time here snowboarding as a teenager.”

Varlaxudden Recreational Area, Porvoo Archipelago “My favourite local place just outside my hometown. There is a wheelchair-accessible route that goes all the way to the seaside. This is where I tried winter camping for the first time.”

By Lotta Heikkeri, ThisisFINLAND Magazine, March 2025

Nordic cooperation covers everything from art to economics

Life & society Society

The Nordic countries are home to the oldest regional political cooperation in the world. Stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Arctic Sea, it is a geographic and cultural area with a deep history of working together in everything from art to economics.

Nordic Day is celebrated annually on March 23.

The Nordic region consists of Finland, the Åland Islands (an autonomous archipelago that is part of Finland), Denmark, the Faeroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. They are tied together by shared histories, languages, ideals and even flag designs. Most of their flags include a similar cross shape that has become known as the Nordic cross.

Sápmi, the far-northern homeland of the Sámi, the only recognised Indigenous People in the EU area, is mainly located in the Nordic region. Sápmi is divided into four parts by the borders of the nation-states Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia.

Many Nordic identities

Seven national flags, each with a cross-shaped design, wave in the wind against in front of the sky.

The flags of many of the Nordic nations are similar in design. From left: Åland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway.Photo: Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva

“The Nordic area is not a homogenous region; we have many identities, such as Greenlandic, Finnish or Sámi,” says Gitte Grønfeld Wille, director of Nordic Culture Point in Helsinki. “Still, I would say that we share many Nordic values, like democracy, freedom of speech, equality, openness and respect for the environment.”

Nordic Culture Point works to support and promote Nordic culture. They have two locations in Helsinki, including an artist residence on the island fortress of Suomenlinna and a 12,000-volume library and meeting place downtown.

“One of our most popular activities is the Nordic Language Café,” Wille says. People show up to practice Danish, Icelandic, Sámi or any other language of the Nordic region.

A larger Nordic library is located at Nordic House, a cultural centre in Reykjavík, Iceland, in a building designed by the renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.

Faroese poetry and more

Under a blue sky with scattered clouds, a stone wall divides a grassy hillside overlooking a coastal village and distant island.

The Nordic countries’ dramatic landscapes, such as this view of Vágar and Mykines in the Faroe Islands, may form a source of poetic inspiration.Photo: Olaf Kruger/Image Broker

If you stop by Nordic Culture Point, you might find a children’s group practicing Norwegian, a Faroese poet reading aloud from her newest book, a collection of Sámi paintings, a presentation on Åland’s architecture or a speech by the newest winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize. They work closely with other organisations, such as Oodi Central Library in Helsinki and institutions in the Baltic states.

“One of our most important tasks is providing funding for Nordic artists,” Wille says. “We have different programmes to establish networks, to stay and work in an artist residence or to travel in the Nordics and Baltics, for example. We put a lot of emphasis on children and youth programmes.”

Nordic Culture Point works under the Nordic Council of Ministers, an intergovernmental forum with roots dating back to the end of the Second World War. One early success of this cooperation was the Nordic Passport Union, which established freedom of movement in the area. In 1962 the Helsinki Treaty was signed, setting the framework for governmental and parliamentary cooperation in the Nordic region.

Productivity and sustainability

People sit and work at tables with partitions in a bright, modern, open study area with a large arched window.

When the University of Helsinki built its main library, it received a loan from the Nordic Investment Bank.Photo: Mika Huisman/University of Helsinki

Right next door to Nordic Culture Point is the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), an international financial institution founded in 1975. In 2005, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined. The Nordic Council of Ministers championed the creation of the NIB, but today it is governed by its own bodies including all eight member countries.

“We are a child of Nordic cooperation,” says Jukka Ahonen, head of communications at NIB. “Our vision is a prosperous and sustainable Nordic-Baltic region. Nordic values are strongly reflected in the organisation, and we try to make the world a better place.”

The NIB finances projects in the Nordics and Baltics that improve productivity and benefit the environment. The bank has about 250 employees, mostly based at their headquarters in Helsinki or in their regional hub in Riga, Latvia. In 2024, the AAA-rated institution loaned about 4.4 billion euros.

Wide-ranging investments

An orange metro train is stopped in a decoratively lit station, with passengers waiting on the platform.

The Nordic Investment Bank helped finance the western line of the Finnish capital’s metro system (shown here is Kivenlahti Station).Photo: Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva

“We have investments in every member country, and typically do 50 to 60 every year,” Ahonen says. “For example, if you fly into Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and come to our headquarters, you will pass many things we helped fund on the way: the airport, the ring rail, the metro, the tram and even the university library.”

Other recent examples include a wind farm in Lithuania, district heating in Iceland and a low-carbon steel plant in Sweden.

“We turn 50 years old in 2025, and I believe our member countries are closer than ever,” Ahonen concludes. “Cooperation has clearly intensified in the region, not least due to recent geopolitical developments.”

By David J. Cord, March 2025

Made in Finland: Sweden sends Finnish sauna-party band KAJ to Eurovision

Arts & culture Music

In early March, Swedish TV viewers and an expert panel chose “Bara Bada Bastu” (roughly “Let’s Just Sauna”) to represent the country at the annual Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Basel, Switzerland in May.

Accompanied by gleeful choreography, the song is a simple, catchy ode to the joys of Finnish sauna bathing, performed by KAJ, a Swedish-speaking trio from western Finland who refer to themselves as a humour group. Swedish, one of Finland’s official languages, is spoken by more than 5 percent of the population, mostly along the coast.

The song quickly hit number one on Spotify’s Global Viral 50 list. It also attracted over two million video streams in its first few days, along with numerous comments thanking the band for a moment of fun and escapism from the worries of the world.

KAJ’s songs always have a simple pounding dance beat and a light-hearted party atmosphere. “Bara Bada Bastu” contains hints of reggae, techno and stadium anthems.

Good-natured rivalries

A woman with platinum blonde hair in a black outfit stands in front of a pink wall covered with white logos.

Finnish singer Erika Vikman is Finland’s representative in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.Photo: Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva

Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman and Jakob Norrgård started KAJ on the west coast of Finland in 2009, when they were in their mid-teens. They formed the group’s name from their first initials, just like the most famous Eurovision champs of all time, Sweden’s ABBA, who won just over 50 years ago.

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus was among those who hailed KAJ’s victory at the Swedish Eurovision qualifying contest, known as Melodifestivalen. He posted a social media video from his own sauna congratulating them on their “super-catchy earworm.” The band reposted it, quipping, “We found our fourth member.”

Meanwhile, Finland will be represented in Basel by Erika Vikman with “Ich Komme,” which is steamy in an entirely different way from KAJ’s family-friendly sauna song. Vikman’s tune is the first Finnish entry ever with a German title and catchphrase.

Residents of European countries can’t vote for their own country’s entry in the ESC, so Sweden is assured plenty of Finnish votes, while Finland is hoping for votes from the German-speaking countries – and Sweden, of course.

Quirkiness is catchy

A singer in a bright green top garment kneels with four dancers in pink outfits.

Finnish rapper Käärijä (Jere Pöyhönen) performs “Cha Cha Cha” during the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.Photo: Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva

Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden for centuries, up until the early 1800s, and the two countries are good-natured rivals, especially in ice hockey and other sports. That rivalry spilled over into Eurovision in 2023, when exuberant Finnish rapper Käärijä’s “Cha Cha Cha” won the public vote but came in second overall behind Sweden’s Loreen, who notched her second ESC win.

Finland has competed in Eurovision since 1961, never placing better than sixth until 2006, when monster-metal band Lordi won with “Hard Rock Hallelujah,” scoring a record number of points.

In a way, KAJ is carrying on the goofy novelty-act tradition of Lordi, Käärijä and Windows95man (Finland’s representative in 2024). The successes of the first two showed that ESC voters are sometimes just looking for a song that’s fun and catchy, rather than the slick, melodramatic power ballads that often win – and often come from Sweden.

Hot topic

Three men wearing suits pose, one holding an accordion, another holding a bunch of small leafy branches, and the third holding a ladle.

KAJ consists of three guys from western Finland (from left): Axel Åhman, Kevin Holmström and Jakob Norrgård.Photo: Erik Åhman

“Bara Bada Bastu” is a cheerful celebration of Finnish sauna culture. With some 3.3 million saunas in a country of 5.6 million people, Finland takes its steam bathing seriously. Unesco added “Sauna culture in Finland” to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020.

Though various kinds of sweat baths have been in use around the world for centuries, Finland is the country most closely associated with the modern-day sauna. “Sauna” is also the only Finnish word widely used in other languages (the Swedish-language term, bastu, comes from badstuga, or “bath cabin”).

“Sauna” is one of a few Finnish-language words sprinkled into “Bara bada bastu,” along with yksi, kaksi, kolme (one, two, three) – as in the line, “Yksi, kaksi, kolme, sauna!” Let the hotly contested competition begin.

By Wif Stenger, March 2025

Inventive Finnish company makes construction ideas float

Business & innovation Architecture

When Kimmo Saharinen was a student, he heard about a great deal: If you sign up for an international mathematics competition, you can skip class to take the test.

“I just wanted to get out of Swedish class,” Saharinen laughs. “But I did really well and placed second in the district.”

Languages might not have been his thing, but mathematics was. Or, rather, engineering: using math to solve technical problems. His talent for creating and building things has led him through life, and now he is building things people have never seen before.

Building his own car and house

A snow-covered deck, including several pool basins, floats on a harbour with city buildings in the background.

Allas Pool keeps some of its swimming pools open all winter.Photo: Bluet

“For my bachelor’s degree, I designed and built my own car,” Saharinen says. “I even had it licensed for road use. I don’t know if anyone else has ever done that in Finland.”

He received his Master of Science degree from the University of Oulu, where his thesis involved creating and patenting a paper machine. He worked in the forest industry before deciding to build houses.

“I wanted to do the whole thing – running the excavator; pouring the foundation; electricity; plumbing; HVAC; everything,” he says. “I borrowed ideas from how they build skyscrapers. I believe you can always find things to improve, so everything was a little bit different from standard.”

Inspiration from an exhaust pipe

A partially constructed wooden deck, including a pool basin, floats on a harbour with city buildings in the background.

Bluet designed a floating pool complex, viewed here during construction, for Inre Hamnen (Inner Harbour), a neighbourhood in Norrköping, Sweden. Photo: Bluet

“I met Kimmo because I was a realtor and sold his houses,” says Tytti Sirola, picking up the story. “Soon after I started working on floating construction, I heard clients wanting to build big floating platforms and audacious projects. No one knew how to do this, so I told them, ‘I know just the guy.’”

One project was Allas Pool (originally called Allas Sea Pool), a harbourside hospitality centre in Helsinki with conference rooms, restaurants and saunas. Swimming pools would be built on floating platforms. Yet how would a floating structure handle waves and ice? How would steel and concrete components work together? Where can you fit all the infrastructure – the electrical wires, the pumps and the tanks?

Saharinen was brought in to figure it all out.

“It was Night of the Arts, a big cultural event in Helsinki, but instead Kimmo was talking with executives about a piping problem,” Sirola says. “He got inspired by car exhaust pipes and thought of a solution. I don’t think a traditional engineer would have come up with such an innovative idea.”

Pools that float

A wooden deck and an attached pool basin float on a lake with a mountain in the background.

For a hotel on the shore of Lake Como, Italy, Bluet made the world’s largest floating infinity pool, visible here beside the deck.Photo: Bluet

Allas Pool opened in 2016 and has been wildly successful. It is now a tourist attraction as well as a popular spot for locals. The casual observer might not notice the attention to detail in the platform.

“Hinges in the deck allow it to flex in the waves, the biggest of which come from the direction of the island fortress of Suomenlinna,” says Saharinen.

The platform can rise and descend by as much as two and a half metres in the tides. In addition, he says, “Water-filled pools exert 500 tonnes of force, so the structure must handle the stresses of filling and emptying the pools.”

Other developers were intrigued, so Saharinen and Sirola became two of the cofounders of Bluet Floating Solutions, a company specialised in creating floating leisure platforms. Sirola is the CEO and handles the business side, while Saharinen is the technical director.

From Italy to Iceland

Several pool basins and accompanying wooden walkways float on a lake with mountains in the background.

These thermal spa pools float on a lake in Egillstaðir, Iceland.Photo: Bluet

“This is an entirely new sector,” Sirola says. “In some places around the world, the authorities don’t even know what permits to issue, because no one has ever done anything like this.”

Bluet has created floating houses, concert stages and sports fields. In 2024, they finished the world’s largest floating infinity pool for a hotel in Lake Como, Italy.

Both Saharinen and Sirola cite the floating thermal spa pools in Egillstaðir, Iceland, as a favourite project.

They also designed a floating habitat at Helsinki Zoo for a Saimaa ringed seal in need of rehabilitation. (Saimaa ringed seals are found only in eastern Finland and are gravely endangered, with a population of less than 500.)

There is high demand for floating structures, as space for waterfront development is limited. Saharinen hopes they can keep pushing the boundaries.

“I like challenges,” says Saharinen. “I would like to create a floating platform that can withstand a hurricane, such as in Puerto Rico, or maybe one in strong currents, like off of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.”

By David Cord, March 2025

Tag: English