For Finnish university students, May Day is the greatest time of year – here’s why
May Day in Finland is more than a celebration of spring. It’s a jubilant spectacle in which university students embrace creativity, tradition and community.
With art, motion and emotion, Finnish researchers explore new language-learning paths
Learning a new language can be daunting and is often associated with hours of memorising vocabulary and repeating textbook phrases. But what if it could be more active, creative, fun and emotionally engaging?
How livestreaming helped me learn Finnish – and what you can take from my experience
For the past two years, I have subjected myself – and, more importantly, a live audience – to the great and noble quest of learning Finnish. Here’s what I found out.
Finland’s election day coffee tradition unites all kinds of voters
Many people in Finland make voting into an outing by stopping for coffee and cake afterwards. We catch up with voters at their chosen cafés to get to the heart of the long-established Finnish custom of election day coffee.
Made in Finland: Sweden sends Finnish sauna-party band KAJ to Eurovision
In a curious turn of events, Sweden has chosen KAJ, a comedy group from Finland, as its representative for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. Finland’s own delegate is Erika Vikman.
Pronouncing Finnish with a smile: The sivistys video edition
Civilised behaviour – we’d probably all like to see more of it these days. A great Finnish word, sivistys, covers the idea – but how do you say that? With a smile! Watch our video.
Urbane renewal: Returning a beloved Helsinki landmark to its original form
We visit a workshop at an undisclosed location where the venerable sculpture Havis Amanda is undergoing a yearlong conservation project. [Update: It returned to its harbourside perch in June 2024 – with a new plan to protect it during major celebrations.]
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.
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