thisisFINLAND

How two festivals in Helsinki brought art, music and design to audiences, despite obstacles

Two beloved fixtures on Helsinki’s early autumn calendar – the Helsinki Festival and Helsinki Design Week – shared outdoor exhibitions, pop-up gift concerts and other memorable experiences while respecting pandemic restrictions.

Life & society Cuisine

Delicacies from the top of the world go down well: northern Finnish recipes

The northernmost part of Finland has its own culinary specialities, including recipes that use unusually flavourful potatoes, delicate orange cloudberries and reindeer meat.

Life & society Nature

Everything matters: Volunteering time and talent to help Finland’s environment

From deploying underwater sensors to building nesting sites in the snow for the endangered Saimaa ringed seal, people in Finland contribute their skills to preserve the natural world.

First place in European Happiness Equality Index

Source: The Happiness Research Institute

Life & society Sports

Ambition and big hearts guide Finnish women’s football to Euro 2022 and beyond

A collective ethic, ambition and pure talent are the keys to the success of the Finnish national women’s football team, which has already secured a place in Euro 2022 and is seeking to qualify for the next world cup.

Arts & culture Design

Finnish design company Iittala celebrates 140 years of creating a world in glass

The town of Iittala, 125 kilometres (75 miles) north of Helsinki, has a tradition of glassblowing and design that goes all the way back to 1881. As the Iittala brand celebrates 140 years of creativity, we look at its prominent place in Finnish design.

Life & society Wellbeing

Summer in the city: An open-air pool beckons in the heart of Helsinki

Helsinki Swimming Stadium is an oasis. In a park in the middle of the Finnish capital, you can swim in a heated, Olympic-size outdoor pool or work out at an open-air gym.

Arts & culture Webpick

Nordic Music Biz 20-under-30 List salutes young talent

A vital part of the rise of new Nordic artists are the teams behind them, especially the young forces who bring new perspectives, ideas and business models to an ever-changing music industry.

Arts & culture Visual arts

Art in the archipelago: Helsinki Biennial reflects global concerns

Exploring identity, interconnectedness and the ecological crisis, the event’s theme and subtitle, “The Same Sea,” is more relevant than ever in a world marked by a pandemic.

Hei!

Finnish word for "Hello!"

things you should and shouldn’t know