Polar-night hike: A winter walk in the northern Finnish woods

Life & societyTravel

Even wearing snowshoes, you sink knee-deep into the powder. Progress is slow, laborious, with a heavy backpack pressing against your shoulders.

The temperature hovers close to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four degrees Fahrenheit), and the sun barely musters the strength to rise above the horizon. It is one of the darkest days of the year in Oulanka National Park in northern Finland.

And yet, in the cold and darkness, this feels like the perfect moment for a polar-night hike.

A partially frozen river winds between steep, snow-laden banks and frost-covered trees in the Kiutaköngäs rapids in northern Finland.

Kiutaköngäs, situated in northern Kuusamo, is a striking stretch of rapids, impressive to visit and admire at any time of year.

A hiker in winter gear prepares firewood outside a wooden shelter surrounded by snow and stacked logs, in northern Finland.

Finnish wilderness huts and rest shelters are often ascetic, but they are free for everyone to use. At our hut by the Oulanka River, there is a generous supply of firewood in the yard – splitting it soon warms you up, even in the deep cold.

A small wooden basket filled with chopped firewood stands on snow at night, lit by a headlamp that casts a sharp shadow.

Good manners dictate leaving at least one basket of chopped firewood at the wilderness hut for the next visitors.

Reading the winter landscape

Reindeer tracks. Someone has passed this way before us. The snow is a canvas, every print leaving behind a story.
Soon, the sound of rushing water cuts through the silence. Even the sharpest frost cannot stop Kiutaköngäs, the powerful rapids of the Oulanka River. Elsewhere, the river is already sealed beneath a thick layer of white ice.

The forest speaks, too. Trees crack and groan in the cold, loud enough to set the imagination racing. Did something just move behind that spruce? Breathing slows, listening takes over.

A snow-covered hillside fades into darkness as light snow drifts past icy branches glowing faintly in the night.

In the dark, the imagination starts to wander. Is there a herd of reindeer watching from somewhere just beyond view? Or is it something else entirely?

The air is so cold that it almost stings. Long strands of pale lichen hang heavily from the pine branches.

A recent storm has brought down several trees. Are we still on the trail? Hunger starts to gnaw. Luckily, there’s some chocolate in your pocket – frozen, but welcome all the same.

There is still a lingering twilight. And what a light it is. The sky turns soft pink, then every imaginable shade of blue. When darkness finally settles shortly after midday, the stars and the moon illuminate the snow so brightly that it never feels completely dark at all.

Woolly sock-clad feet are balanced against a warm wooden wall.

In the wilderness, a mobile phone is of little use, and in subzero temperatures its battery would not last long anyway. This offers a rare opportunity to be properly offline.

A pale cloud illuminated by white light drifts against a background of pitch-black darkness.

Before the spring sun begins to glint off the snow, nature is notably quiet. In the depth of midwinter, only a handful of walkers are out and about.

A hiker wearing a red hat carries firewood across a snowy clearing at night, surrounded by tall trees.

In freezing conditions, dressing in layers is essential. Start with wool or merino wool as a base, add further wool or down for insulation and finish with a windproof outer layer. In the dark, a head torch is an indispensable companion.

A night in a wilderness hut

By the beam of our headlamps, we find our place for the night. The wilderness hut is cold and empty – the guestbook notes the last visitors were here two months ago – but candles and a fire in the stove soon make it feel cosy.

There is still work to be done.

Firewood is plentiful, but it needs sawing and splitting first. There is no well, so melted snow will have to do for drinking water.

We eat dinner still wearing our woollen hats and winter jackets.

A bright moon shines above a line of trees, casting pale light across a frozen landscape at night.

Finland’s national parks offer hundreds of kilometres of trails for hiking during the snow-free months. In winter, some routes are maintained, but mostly it is a matter of luck whether someone has passed along the trail before you. Especially in winter, navigation skills are essential.

Glowing embers and flames burn inside a wood stove, casting warm light in the dark.

In freezing conditions, heating a wilderness hut with a wood-burning stove is work in itself. Firewood must still be used sparingly: hauling it into the middle of the fells or the forest is both costly and laborious.

Headlamp beams light a small table as two hikers eat inside a dim wooden shelter at night.

On a winter trek, the essentials are moving, staying warm, resting and, of course, eating. In subzero temperatures, your body consumes energy at a remarkable rate. When running water is not available, you can obtain drinking water by melting snow.

Clothes and gloves hang from wooden beams inside a warmly lit cabin, drying by the heat.

Wilderness huts suitable for overnight stays are found particularly in northern Finland. Many huts have stories of their own, having served for decades as shelters for loggers or reindeer herders.

Then comes rest. Curl up inside a sleeping bag, switch off the headlamp and watch the candlelight flicker across the wooden walls. Outside, darkness stretches in every direction. Rather than emptiness, it feels more like a protective embrace.

A single headlamp glows among trees in a dark snowy forest, lighting a narrow path.

The return journey feels lighter, following our own tracks back. Until next time, forest!

Practical notes for a Finnish winter hike

What is the polar night?

The polar night (kaamos in Finnish) is an annual period when the sun does not rise above the horizon. It occurs within the Arctic Circle, lasting longer the further you travel north toward the pole. In Nuorgam, Finland’s northernmost village, it lasts for more than 50 days. The polar night, however, does not mean complete darkness. In midwinter, the sky fills with shifting shades of pink and blue, a kind of twilight. If you’re lucky, you will see the northern lights appear, too.

A person skis along a narrow trail through a snow-covered forest of tall pine trees.

The northern reaches of Oulanka National Park lie on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Areas north of it experience the polar night each year.

How do you hike in winter?

Winter hiking is safest for those with solid experience of trekking in varied conditions. Always check weather forecasts and inform someone of your route and schedule. Essential equipment includes a first-aid kit, spare clothing, sufficient food, a stove, a headlamp and a properly rated winter sleeping bag, as well as a high-quality shelter.

In winter, travel is done on either skis or snowshoes. You carry your gear in a backpack or, more commonly, pull it behind you on a type of sled called a pulk in English and ahkio in Finnish.

Beginners might want to start with day trips to gain more experience. Late winter often offers easier conditions than midwinter: the snowpack is more likely to be firm, and daylight stretches well into the afternoon.

Trails, parks and huts in Finland

Finland has an extensive network of marked trails. All 41 national parks in Finland are free to access year-round. Always check local regulations, as camping is usually permitted only in designated areas. Many parks offer shelters and wilderness huts for overnight stays.

Hut etiquette is simple: make room for those who arrive after you, leave chopped firewood behind and clean the hut so it is at least as tidy as when you arrived. More details about Finnish national parks and huts are available online on a website called Luontoon (“into nature”).

Text and photos by Emilia Kangasluoma, February 2026

Momentous Sámi exhibition arrives at Helsinki’s Kiasma Museum

Arts & cultureVisual arts

Their northern homeland, called Sápmi, is divided into four parts by the borders of the nation-states Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia. We Who Remain (March 23–September 6, 2026) invites audiences to experience Sámi identity through the voices of the Sámi themselves.

Curated by Sámi rights advocate, essayist and musician Petra Laiti, the exhibition presents contemporary art by and about the Sámi community, featuring 20 artists with pieces ranging from the 1970s to the present.

We Who Remain is a joint production of Kiasma and Sámi Museum Siida, located in Inari, northern Finland. “Sámi contemporary art is receiving growing international attention,” says Taina Máret Pieski, Siida’s director. “This is the first major exhibition of Sámi contemporary art and duodji [Sámi handicrafts] ever held in Helsinki.”

Deep significance

A woman, curator Petra Laiti, in a red traditional Sámi hat and a coat with some fur lining visible, stands in a snowy landscape with mountains visible in the background.

Sámi rights advocate, essayist and musician Petra Laiti is the curator of We Who Remain.
Photo: Lotta Hurnanen

Pieski calls it “deeply significant” that the curator is also Sámi: “Petra Laiti’s curatorial concept powerfully weaves together our people’s past and present.”

The Sápmi region existed long before the emergence of Nordic nation-states or national ideologies. The exhibition highlights the complexities of the Sámi experience, showing how Sámi identity endures and flourishes despite external pressures.

“The Nordic peoples have been taught that Sápmi never even existed, and if it did, it was not what the Sámi themselves say it was – or that its existence ended for reasons other than those we still feel in our bones,” Laiti has written.

“Don’t let that fool you. Before there were Nordic countries, there was Sápmi. Not a state in today’s sense, nor a nationality as defined by passports, but a nation. And in the past, it was the only nation that called these lands home.”

By ThisisFINLAND staff, February 2026

Sámi artist Lada Suomenrinne reclaims the remote in the far north of Finland

Arts & cultureVisual arts

Lada Suomenrinne is an international artist with one foot inside Sápmi and one foot outside of it. Sápmi is the northern homeland of the Sámi, the only recognised Indigenous People in the EU area, divided into four parts by the borders of the nation-states Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia.

Working lens-based and preferably on Sámi land, Suomenrinne constantly has to deal with the complex history of photography, which includes its abusive use against minorities. Suomenrinne found their way by making the camera transform from a rather cruel tool into a ceremonial one.

Suomenrinne grew up in Njuorggán (Nuorgam), a small community in the Finnish part of Sápmi, close to the Norwegian border.

Eight photographic artworks by Suomenrinne were displayed at the Barents Spektakel Festival in northern Norway in 2025. Outside a building formerly used as an air navigation beacon and flight monitoring station, visitors could experience the photos, printed on acrylic and aluminium and installed along the walls and concrete.

The series is part of Suomenrinne’s ongoing art project Emergency Weather. The artist explains that the title is based in a desire to comment on the current and dire situation in Sápmi and the Arctic, where the loss of nature, cultural traditions and vital knowledge looms.

This text is excerpted from a collaboration between the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes and the Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute as part of the pARTir initiative funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU. The original article by Hilde Sørstrøm appeared in the northern Norwegian culture webzine Hakapik.

Chill skills: Finnish icebreakers and snow-how are more relevant than ever

Business & innovationArctic

The heavy door opens, and a rush of cool air greets us. 

“This is my favourite place in our offices during summer,” says Mika Hovilainen with a grin. He is CEO of Aker Arctic, an icebreaker design company. 

Small red boats are neatly arranged across the large space, their hulls curving elegantly in and out. These are few-meters-long miniatures of existing and upcoming icebreakers and icegoing vessels that Aker Arctic designs. 

Finland is world-famous for its icebreaking expertise. The know-how was born out of necessity; all Finnish ports freeze during winter. (Estonia is the only other country that can make the same claim.) Shipping lanes need to be kept open. The challenge has driven technological innovation and fostered a deep understanding of how ice behaves. 

Hovilainen opens another door, and the air becomes even colder. This is Aker Arctic’s pride and joy: a 75-metre-long ice tank where employees and visiting researchers can observe how miniature vessels manoeuvre in ice-covered waters. 

Mika Hovilainen

Mika Hovilainen is the chief executive of Aker Arctic.

Real-life testing – albeit at 1:40 scale for the largest vessels – is crucial to understanding how ice and vessels interact. 

“People often think that an icebreaker simply rams through the ice, forcing the mass out of its way,” Hovilainen says. “In fact, the shape of the hull turns a forward force into a downward force that breaks the ice. The ice slides beneath the hull, breaks into smaller pieces, and is pushed to the back and to the side.”  

There’s more to ice than meets the eye 

Jukka Tuhkuri

Jukka Tuhkuri studies ice mechanics and arctic marine technology.

“Ice is a difficult material,” muses Jukka Tuhkuri, professor at Aalto University. His area of expertise is ice mechanics, a discipline studying how ice deforms and breaks. 

Tuhkuri says there are a few common misconceptions about ice. The first and most persistent is that ice is cold. 

“As a material, ice is not cold, because it’s so close to its melting point.” 

To illustrate, he compares ice to steel, which melts at around 1,500 degrees Celsius. At room temperature, a steel beam is still far from its melting point. However, even at minus 10 degrees — a common winter temperature — ice is already very close to melting. 

Another misconception is that ice is fragile. 

“Yes, ice can be fragile when cold or under rapid loading, but if ice is under slow, steady stress, for example when it is pushed against something, it flows like liquid.”

Operating a vessel in ice-covered seas is far more complex than in open water. To add to the challenge, sea ice is not always a single flat field but a maze of ice floes that move around and press together with currents and wind, putting immense stress on any obstacles in their way. 

“When wind presses the ice slowly against a vessel or a structure, such as a bridge or an offshore windmill, it’s anything but fragile.” 

Know your vessels 

Icebreaker
A vessel designed to break ice and create paths for other ships. Features a reinforced and rounded hull and very powerful engines. Uses various manoeuvres to break free of ice. 

Icegoing vessel
A vessel that can operate in icy waters but cannot break thick ice. Often used for commercial shipping, research or military purposes and typically follows behind an icebreaker in difficult ice conditions. 

Ice classes
Countries have different classifications and requirements for icegoing vessels. In Finland, there are six classes with specific requirements for hull design, engine output and performance in ice. 

Finnish icebreakers

Around 80 percent of the world’s icebreakers are designed and around 60 percent built in Finland.  

Finland has eight operational icebreakers: Otso, Kontio, Voima, Urho, Sisu, Fennica, Nordica, Ahto and Polaris, the world’s first icebreaker to use liquefied natural gas as fuel. During summer, many of them can be seen moored in Katajanokka, close to downtown Helsinki. A new icebreaker, Aino, has been commissioned and will be operational in 2029. 

Unparalleled snow-how keeps airports open 

While ice is the raison d’être of Aker Arctic’s expertise and Jukka Tuhkuri’s research, at Helsinki Airport ice is an unwanted visitor. 

Airplanes need friction to take off and land safely. When the temperature drops close to zero and ice starts to form on the runway, maintenance operations at Finland’s busiest airport kick into high gear. 

“Our objective is to provide summertime conditions on the runways year-round,” says Jani Elasmaa, vice president at Finavia. The company maintains Finland’s airport network and is world-famous for its “snow-how,” expertise in keeping airports safe and operational in the harshest weather. 

“The ideal winter weather would be long-lasting periods of sub-zero temperatures,” he says. “Unpredictable weather and temperatures that oscillate above and below freezing – the conditions we nowadays often have – are the most challenging.” 

There are around 130 maintenance workers on the ground at the peak of winter. They clear the runways of snow in dramatic convoys of trucks and inspect the tarmac for frost damage, another problem caused by repeated freezing and melting. 

Finavia’s snow-how attracts visitors from other airports. Guests are particularly interested in the collaboration between air traffic control and the ground team. 

“It’s not about keeping the planes in the air at any cost,” says Elasmaa. “The priority is to ensure that passengers and crew get home safely.” 

While the decision to shut down air traffic is never taken lightly, sometimes it’s the only option. A few years ago, a downpour of supercooled water covered the apron areas, the planes and all maintenance equipment in a four-centimetre-thick layer of ice. 

All air traffic had to be stopped. 

“We were running again in two hours,” Elasmaa says, with a touch of pride in his voice.  

Snow storing saves skiing seasons 

Just 20 kilometres west of Helsinki Airport along Ring Road 3 lies Oittaa, one of the most popular outdoor recreation centres in the capital region. It boasts one of the longest cross-country skiing seasons in the country, even when compared to the far north.

The capital region may get proper snowfall only a few times per year, but snow stored from the previous season means that Oittaa’s skiing season often starts as early as late October, before any new snow has fallen. 

Storing snow is not a new phenomenon. Before refrigerators, snow and ice were covered in sawdust or wood chips to help preserve food. Now, it’s also a promising business venture. 

“Storing existing snow is the most energy-efficient way to ensure there is snow in the early season,” explains Antti Lauslahti, CEO of Snow Secure, a company that develops snow storage systems. 

Snow storage is particularly appealing for ski centres in Europe and North America. The ability to open slopes early, when there’s no natural snow or it’s not cold enough to use snow guns that turn water into snow, makes a big financial difference. 

Storing snow doesn’t replace snow guns, but it complements them, Lauslahti explains. 

“Snow guns produce the best quality of snow when it’s minus ten degrees. That’s the optimal time to make good snow and store it for the upcoming season.” 

The snow is piled into hard-packed mounds and covered with insulating mats. Sensors monitor the temperature inside and outside the cover. Lauslahti says that even when the temperature outside rises above 40 degrees, it is barely above zero just a few centimetres below the mound’s surface. 

“I think this is a very Finnish solution. We take something very niche and turn it into a patented innovation with global appeal.” 

Warm ice behaves differently 

Finnish ice and snow expertise must now adapt to a major challenge: climate change. 

As winters become milder and temperature swings increase, ice changes as well. Lately, professor Jukka Tuhkuri has been studying what he calls “warm ice.” 

One key question Tuhkuri and his fellow researchers are rushing to answer is what kinds of loads warm ice places on icebreakers. This knowledge is crucial not only for icebreakers but also for other vessels operating in increasingly ice-free waters. 

“We have discovered some surprising things about warm ice,” he says. “For example, we have measured that ice loads on ships in a warm and soft ice can be just as high as ice loads on cold and hard ice.” 

Even incremental changes in ice temperature can make a big difference in its material qualities, Tuhkuri notes. These are not yet reflected on the calculations and vessel-building guidelines. 

“When ice conditions are seemingly – and I underline the word seemingly – easy, unenforced vessels will operate longer into autumn and earlier in the spring, but warm ice may not be as innocent as it looks like,” he says. 

Choppy waters ahead 

In Aker Arctic’s test tank, a miniature prototype of an icebreaker sits still in open water. A few translucent sheets of ice float nearby, the last remnants of today’s test runs. 

For the icebreaker industry, climate change is both an opportunity and a challenge. Traffic is expected to grow significantly as the waterway remains open for longer, increasing demand for ice-enforced vessels. 

On the other hand, icebreakers have not been built for long voyages in open, choppy waters. 

“A vessel that is ideal for breaking ice is not ideal for manoeuvring in open water and waves,” Hovilainen explains. “An icebreaker’s life cycle can be over 50 years, so we have to carefully assess what kind of needs the vessels will have in the future.” 

We descend a flight of stairs to a viewing area beneath the test tank. Here a window runs the entire length of the pool. Through it, we’re looking directly up at the underside of the model vessel’s hull. This, Hovilainen says, is where many big aha moments about ice happen. 

Ice, in the end, is a difficult material – something computers or AI-powered weather prediction models cannot fully grasp. When the full-size version of this vessel powers through a jumble of ice floes in the future, it will continue to rely on a human’s understanding of ice. 

“Even with all the technology,” says Hovilainen, “it still comes down to the captain’s experience and ability to read the ice.” 

By Lotta Heikkeri
Illustrations: Tilda Rose
Photos: Vesa Laitinen

Finnish company creates an innovative sand battery

Business & innovationStartups

If you have ever walked barefoot along a beach at night, you will have noticed that the sand stays warm even after the sun goes down. A Finnish company is using the thermal properties of sand to create heat-storing batteries which could play a major part in meeting the world’s energy needs.

“My cofounder Markku Ylönen and I met at Tampere University of Technology,” says Tommi Eronen, CEO of Polar Night Energy.

“We were interested in energy technology, power plant engineering and energy storage. We knew the energy sector needed storage capacity because of the growth in renewable energy production.”

The problem with solar photovoltaics and wind power is that they generate power when the conditions are right, not when people need the energy. The solution is storing this energy somehow, such as in lithium-ion batteries, but these can be expensive and have a short storage duration.

“A battery might only be able to store energy for a few hours, but we need to store energy for days,” Eronen says. “Our solution is to store this energy as heat in solid materials.”

Storing renewable energy

Two smiling men in long-sleeved shirts pose in a relaxed manner.

CEO Tommi Eronen (left) and CTO Markku Ylönen started working on their thermal battery when they were studying at Tampere University of Technology.Photo: Polar Night Energy

Founded in 2018, Polar Night Energy has developed sand batteries, attracting attention from around the world. They were featured on the BBC and were named one of TIME magazine’s best inventions of 2025.

Although heating sand seems simple, the company’s real advantage is their patented systems to charge and discharge the heat, transferring that energy with minimal loss.

Heat can be generated from renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. In Pornainen, the Sand Battery is charged with wind energy.

The heat is stored in giant silos of sand until needed for district heating or industrial processes.

“There are many industrial companies which need hot air or steam to deliver thermal energy, such as in the food and beverage, lumber, chemical, pharmaceutical and textile sectors,” Eronen says. “In the past they had to use fossil fuels like oil and gas, but now they have a new choice.”

Major sustainability benefits

The improved sustainability of sand batteries is one of its biggest selling points, and Eronen admits lowering CO2 emissions is one of his main goals.

“We saved 600 tonnes of CO2 emissions in one year at Loviisan Lämpö’s plant in Pornainen, compared to combustion-based systems,” he says. “I see cutting emissions to meet the world’s climate goals as a personal challenge.”

Circular solution with waste soapstone

An aerial view shows a silo, a small industrial building and a small parking lot surrounded by trees.

The company’s sand batteries heat homes and businesses through Finland’s district heating networks.Photo: Polar Night Energy

Polar Night Energy has two commercial sand batteries in operation, one in Kankaanpää, near the Finnish west coast, and Pornainen, which is in southern Finland. The Kankaanpää sand battery was opened in 2022 and can store 8 MWh, which is used in the region’s district heating network.

The Pornainen sand battery began operations in 2025 and is much larger – 100 MWh – and delivers hot water for the local district heating network. In general, the sand battery can deliver hot water, steam or air, with current output temperatures of up to 400 degrees C (752 F). The 2,000-tonne silo is about 15 metres wide and 13 metres tall (50 x 43 feet). It uses sophisticated software that controls when heat is produced and released to minimise costs. It also shares heat with the district heating network, replacing a plant that burned woodchips.

“In Pornainen we use crushed soapstone to store heat, a byproduct from the company Tulikivi’s fireplace manufacturing,” Eronen says. “This proves we can use sand-like materials and not expensive river sand. There is a global shortage of river sand, which is used in construction.”

Is generating electricity next?

Two people in safety equipment smile as they hold handfuls of crushed soapstone.

Although it is called a sand battery, the company’s solution can use other materials such as soapstone waste.Photo: Polar Night Energy

The 26-member team at Polar Night Energy is also working on a solution to turn stored heat back into electricity. When this is working correctly, sand batteries could be used not just to warm homes and help factories but even to power lights and charge electric vehicles. To expand, they are busy looking for partnerships with big global companies.

“We are excited about the future and are glad of all the attention we have received,” says Eronen. “We want to work fast and have a positive impact on the world.”

By David J. Cord, February 2026

Finland helps crack the oat genome in global research effort

Business & innovationBiotech

An international research team has successfully created a genetic map of oats – the pangenome and pantranscriptome, which show when and where oat genes are active in different parts of the plant. This breakthrough helps scientists understand which genes are important for yield, adaptation and health, providing valuable tools for oat breeding.

A significant part of the sequencing work, led by senior scientist Lidija Bitz, was carried out at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (known by its Finnish abbreviation, Luke). “Oats hold an exceptionally strong position in Finland,” explains Sirja Viitala, research manager at Luke. “They are both an export grain, a health food and a raw material for the food industry. Research, breeding and the development of oat value chains are strategically important for building a sustainable food system and renewing agriculture.”

Finland is a global oat powerhouse – ranking among the top five producers worldwide. The importance of oats as a raw material for Finland’s food industry has grown, particularly alongside the development of plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products. Oats are rich in dietary fiber, cholesterol-lowering beta-glucan and numerous other valuable compounds such as antioxidants and healthy fats.

In a changing climate, breeding resilient oat varieties is essential, and that journey begins with decoding oat genes and genomes. Breeding more diverse oat varieties opens new opportunities and strengthens Finland’s food sector.

Hear Tytti Metsä play an ancient Finnish instrument with a timeless voice: the jouhikko

Arts & cultureMusic

It began on her high school graduation day back in the 1990s, when 19-year-old Tytti Metsä held a bowed lyre, jouhikko in Finnish, for the first time. The instrument, handmade by her friend’s grandfather, was as beautiful to look at as it was to hear.

Its tone was soft yet startlingly human, almost hypnotic.

“Something about it felt irresistible”, Metsä says. She was instantly captivated.

Metsä already sang and played the piano and the kantele, a kind of zither that is Finland’s national instrument. Yet it felt as though the bowed lyre had been waiting for her.

An ancient instrument in modern hands

Pääskyläinen (Little Swallow, Bird of Daylight) is one version of the world-creation myths found around the globe. Through a series of wondrous events, a clever young girl runs to a smith to commission an iron rake tipped with rowan spikes. She uses it to gather the fragments of a broken bird’s egg from the sea; from its yolk, she creates the moon, and from its white, the stars.Video: Nina Karlsson and Annukka Pakarinen

The bowed lyre is a surviving branch of Europe’s early lyre tradition. Evidence suggests, there were bowed lyres as early as 800–500 BCE in Hungary.

During the Middle Ages, lyres were played across a vast area from France to Karelia. The bow was likely introduced in the British Isles, from which the instrument travelled north and east, eventually reaching Finland.

While many other bowed instruments slowly evolved into the violin family, the bowed lyre remained largely unchanged in remote villages, especially in Border Karelia in eastern Finland and in Estonia’s island communities.
Today, only a small number of Finns still play it.

Learning the instrument’s strange logic

A wooden bowed lyre with several strings and a curved bow lies on a wooden surface.

The bowed lyre is an instrument with a history stretching back millennia. In Finland, it has been used both for dance music and to accompany singing. Its closest relatives include the hiiukannel or rootsikannel in Estonia and the talharpa or stråkharpa in Sweden.

Metsä, now a singer, songwriter and bowed lyre and harmonium (pump organ) player, lifts her handmade willow bow, its horsehair drawn taut. She lowers it onto the strings and begins to play.

She first studied the instrument in Kaustinen – a small town in western Finland that happens to be the heartland of the country’s folk music tradition – under masters such as Risto Hotakainen and Ritva Talvitie.
There, Metsä also built her first bowed lyre. Fragile in tone, she says, but a beginning.

From the start, she composed within the instrument’s limits: the narrow pitch range and the bow’s bouncing polyrhythms.

“What fascinates me about a new instrument is how it changes the way you think,” she says. “It can throw your musical logic off balance, in a good way.”

Those constraints led her into what she calls “meditative minimalism”: a slow, subtle aesthetic built on tiny shifts against a steady flow.

“It was almost a mind-altering experience,” she says.

She later continued her studies at the prestigious Sibelius Academy’s Department of Folk Music.

The sound becomes a voice: Tytti Metsä & Hyypiöt

Three musicians are shown in a large room, with one sitting and holding a bowed lyre, one sitting in front of conga drums, and another standing beside a double bass.

Once Tytti Metsä started playing with drummer Janne Haavisto and bassist Miikka Paatelainen, she felt the stories in her songs began to take on new layers of meaning.

Today, Metsä performs with drummer Janne Haavisto and bassist Miikka Paatelainen as the trio Tytti Metsä & Hyypiöt.

“We have such beautiful folk poems shaped by the Kalevala metre,” she says, referring to the old rhythmic tradition that predates Finland’s national epic.

Her own instrument is carved from alder; its strings mix horsehair and synthetic fibres, with lower strings made of sheep gut. They require constant tuning – part of the jouhikko’s character, and something Metsä meets with precision and patience.

“When I play it like this, the sound resonates through me,” she says. “It’s breathy, and the bow creates its own rhythm. It feels as though someone is singing.”

Text by Emilia Kangasluoma, photos by Nina Karlsson, January 2026

This article is partially based on information from Rauno Nieminen’s book Jouhikko: The Bowed Lyre (2017).

The northern Finnish city of Oulu puts big ideas into action

Arts & cultureCulture

Set on the shore of the Bothnian Bay in northern Finland, Oulu is a city where cutting-edge technology meets sea air and a vibrant cultural scene.

Throughout 2026, Oulu and 39 surrounding municipalities will host an ambitious year-long programme of art, music, performance and community-led events under the theme Cultural Climate Change. The concept reflects both environmental awareness and a desire to foster a cultural climate where people can enjoy fun, joyful and eye-opening creative experiences.

The Oulu2026 cultural region extends well beyond the city itself, encompassing destinations such as Kajaani, Tornio, Ii, Kuusamo and Kalajoki. Visitors can expect a calendar packed with experiences across all seasons, from winter festivals on frozen seas to long summer evenings filled with food, music and light.

Full programme:  Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture

Highlights from the year ahead:

PLAY – Fotografiska Tallinn × Oulu2026

A man in a red hat guides a radio-controlled sailboat on a calm lake with other small boats nearby.

Sage Sohier’s photograph Perfectible Worlds, Man at radio-controlled sailboat regatta, Gilford, NH, 2003. Photo: Sage Sohier

January 14–December 31, 2026

For the first time, Fotografiska Tallinn brings a major photography exhibition to Finland. PLAY, a group exhibition by 17 international artists, explores play as a force of joy and connection but also as a form of escape. Featuring works by photographers such as Martin Parr, Jouko Lehtola, Susan Meiselas and Cristina de Middel, the exhibition is curated by Fotografiska Tallinn’s brand director Jorven Viilik. A bespoke soundscape by Estonian musician Erki Pärnoja completes the experience.

Layers of the Peace Machine

A woman gazes upward in a darkened space lit by red and blue lights, surrounded by suspended materials and vertical light strips.

Layers of the Peace Machine is an immersive, multi-part work by Ekho Collective. Photo: Linnea Laatikainen

January 15– December 31, 2026

Installed at Oulu City Hall, this immersive, multi-part work by Ekho Collective examines peace as an active and ongoing process. Inspired by AI researcher Timo Honkela’s Peace Machine, the installation invites visitors to participate through movement, sound, language and interaction.

Ovllá – Opera

January 16–February 28, 2026 (19 performances)

Opening Oulu’s Capital of Culture year, Ovllá brings Sámi perspectives to the main stage of Oulu Theatre. The opera addresses the lasting impact of state-led oppression on the Sámi, the only recognised Indigenous People in the EU area. Their northern homeland, called Sápmi, is divided into four parts by the borders of the nation-states Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia.

Written by Juho-Sire/Siri Broch Johansen, with music by Finnish composer Cecilia Damström, the production is both politically resonant and artistically ambitious. It is performed in Northern Sámi and Finnish with subtitles in English.

Ice sauna

February 18–27, 2026

A distinctly Finnish experience: a community-built ice sauna, open to all and operated by the Oulu Sauna Association. After a week in the city, the structure will be transported to the Frozen People Festival.

Frozen People Festival

A crowd attends a small festival on a frozen sea, with illuminated structures standing out against the blue ice.

Frozen People is a festival held on a frozen sea. Don’t forget to bring your woollen mittens! Photo: Harri Tarvainen

February 28–March 1, 2026

An electronic music and northern arts festival staged on the frozen sea at Nallikari Beach. Expect installations, light art, performances and a mix of local and international electronic music talent, all framed by snow, ice and open horizons.

Climate Clock Public Art Trail

A snowy woodland seen from above is split by a narrow river flowing through the white landscape.

Climate Clock brings art to nature. Photo: Harri Tarvainen

Opening June 13, 2026

One of Oulu2026’s most significant productions, Climate Clock combines art, science and nature across six sites in the wider Oulu region, inviting reflection on ecological time, resilience and adaptability. Artists include Rana Begum, SUPERFLEX and Antti Laitinen, with curation by Alice Sharp (Invisible Dust, UK). The six permanent artworks are joined by The Most Valuable Clock in the World, a piece created by artists Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen with input from local residents.

Summer Night’s Dinner

People of different ages dine together at a festive outdoor table adorned with greenery and flowers.

Summer Night’s Dinner is an opportunity to eat your favourite meal in a superb location. Photo: Kevin Kallombo

August 15, 2026

A kilometre-long communal table stretches across central Oulu for one relaxed summer evening. Residents and visitors are invited to bring their own food and share a moment of togetherness in a simple yet powerful celebration of food, culture and community under the northern sky.

Lumo Light Festival

A person stands before a giant illuminated sculpture of a blue human eye displayed outdoors at a light art festival.

Oculucis by Italian artist Hermes Mangialardo appeared at Lumo Light Festival in 2025. Photo: Linnea Laatikainen

November 19–22, 2026
As autumn darkness sets in, Lumo Light Festival illuminates Oulu with light installations, regional events and special Lumo-themed restaurant menus. The festival turns the city into a glowing canvas, proving that winter can be a season of creativity.

Oulu Sinfonia: Beyond the Sky

November 19–21, 2026 (five performances)

An immersive orchestral experience combining Jukka-Pekka Metsävainio’s astrophotography with music by Lauri Porra. Conducted by Dalia Stasevska, the performance explores humanity’s relationship with the cosmos, science, myth and history.

Oulu at a glance: local tips

A riverside view of Oulu shows historic buildings and a church tower rising above green parkland on a clear day.

Oulu is a venerable city where you’re never far from the river or the sea. Photo: Rosa Ruuskanen, Visit Oulu

With a population of around 217,000, Oulu is the largest city in northern Finland, founded in 1605. Long known as a technology hub, the city balances innovation with easy access to nature and a relaxed coastal rhythm.

Ulla Pirttijärvi sings on stage with accompanying musicians under warm stage lighting.

Ulla Pirttijärvi & Ulda performed modern Sámi music at the Sámi National Day concert in Oulu in 2024. Photo: Sanna Krook

Don’t miss the Toripoliisi (Market Square Policeman) statue, a rotund local icon standing guard on Market Square, or the wide sandy beaches of Nallikari, often dubbed the Riviera of the North. The Oulu Museum of Art offers a strong focus on contemporary works, while nearby Hailuoto Island is ideal for slowing down with sea views, dunes and a historic lighthouse.
Stop by Oulu Market Hall (1901) for local delicacies and everyday life under one roof.
Oulu is easy to reach from Helsinki: around five and a half hours by train, or just over one hour by air.

Text by Emilia Kangasluoma, January 2026