Festivals - thisisFINLAND

Hold on to summer: Sunny Flow Fest memories in Helsinki last through the autumn and beyond

Flow Festival is an extravaganza, the highlight of the summer for multitudes of music fans in Finland. With interviews and a photo show, we attempt to bottle its essence so we can make the summer last longer, even as autumn is increasingly in the air.

Arts & culture Visual arts

Island and mainland: At Helsinki Biennial, art inspires viewers and makes summer linger longer

We jump on a ferry to the lush island of Vallisaari to visit the 2023 Helsinki Biennial and meet a couple of the artists. (Lots more photos in the slideshow at the end of the article.)

Arts & culture Music

Music in the Finnish capital: The Flow must go on

Finland loves summer festivals; there’s at least one in almost every city and town. Flow Festival, a massive music event held in Helsinki in early August, is the urban festival.

2005

The year Helsinki Design Week, Scandinavia's biggest design fest, was founded

Arts & culture Webpick

50 Finnish summer music festivals to go to in 2023

During the long summer days and midnight sun, Finland offers hundreds of festivals. The experts at Music Finland pick 50 recommendations, from classical to pop, folk and beyond.

Arts & culture Performing arts

For Finnish Culture Day, six videos transport you to festivals and arts events across Finland

We celebrate Finnish Culture Day, February 28, with six videos that invite you to experience cultural events – mostly music festivals, but we also throw in some dance and architecture.

1970

The year Ruisrock, Finland's oldest (and Europe's second-oldest) rock fest, was founded

Arts & culture Music

Finnish folk musicians lead listeners in exciting new directions

Finnish folk sounds are grabbing additional audiences with edgy new music, thanks to artists such as Pekko Käppi and Vilma Jää, who combine contemporary styles and technology with age-old traditions and instruments. We talk with them about their musical paths.

Arts & culture Festivals

Sustainable sustenance: As Helsinki’s Flow Fest returns, food venders feature menus without meat

After a two-year pandemic hiatus, Flow came back in August 2022 with two things its many fans have come to expect: an outstanding lineup of major artists and an emphasis on sustainability that extends all the way to the food venders.

Life & society Education

Annual track event at Olympic Stadium gathers Swedish-speaking kids from all over Finland

At the Relay Carnival, thousands of children wearing their school colours chant and cheer for their classmates to run faster. Brightly dressed cheerleaders with colourful pom-poms compete for attention, contributing to the festive atmosphere.