Becoming Alan Wake: The Finnish face of a world-famous video game
When Ilkka Villi arrives at the office in the morning, he promptly suits up in a full-body spandex outfit and gets to work pretending to be an action hero.
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.
Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen to receive 2024 Polar Music Prize
Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will be awarded the 2024 Polar Music Prize on May 21 in Stockholm, Sweden. The second recipient this year is long-time music-industry mainstay Nile Rodgers.
Finland’s first circus professor unites many art forms under a big tent
Live video, virtual reality, archery: Finnish circus is going in directions you probably never imagined as a kid. And now circus art has a professor, too.
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.
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.
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.
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.
