The Northern Lights are visible for human eyes only when it’s dark and the sky is clear and cloudless. In northern Finland they can be witnessed from late August until early April.
Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory might seem like a bunch of humble buildings in the middle of nowhere. However, a team of top scientists works there to unravel the mysteries of the Northern Lights. The director, space physicist Eija Tanskanen, has good news for aurora spotters: the active years have just started.
Pop, rap, techno and yoik: Festival in the far north of Finland spotlights Sámi music, culture and languages
The annual festival Ijahis Idja (Nightless Night) in the very northern town of Inari showcases modern and traditional music by Sámi Indigenous people. We talk with several performers about their music and heritage.
In the far north, Siida shows a Sámi view of how nature and culture go together
Hundreds of kilometres above the Arctic Circle, the Siida Sámi Museum and Nature Centre portrays the culture of the Indigenous Sámi people and the diversity of the region’s flora and fauna.
In northern Finland, three unconventional Sámi artists talk about culture and craft
A documentary directed by Auri Ahola traces the career trajectories of three unusual Sámi artists as they discuss their connections to Sámi culture and the landscape of the far north. The film is embedded in our article for you to watch.
At a university in northern Finland, international cooperation thrives
You never know who you’ll bump into at the Arctic Centre in the city of Rovaniemi. Each of the researchers and students has their own story of how they found their way to northern Finland.
Icy resolve: Creating the world’s widest ice carousel on a Finnish lake
Janne Käpylehto’s newest project – making the largest ice carousel in the world – amounts to a masterclass in sisu, the untranslatable Finnish word that signifies courage and endurance. And we’ve got it on video.
In the northern Finnish wilderness, home is where the hut is
While exploring Finland’s outback, hikers, cyclists, skiers and snowshoers can find shelter in a remarkable network of basic trailside accommodations, a tradition that stretches back centuries.
