Slideshows - 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.

Arts & culture Slideshows

Finnish wildlife photographers continue to garner international recognition

People in Finland often speak of a close connection to the natural world. That may be one reason why the country’s nature and wildlife photographers continue to gain followers and win awards. (See photo show.)

Arts & culture Slideshows

The return of Lux Helsinki reminds viewers of brighter days ahead

Our photo show samples the glow of a festival of open-air light installations that offset the winter darkness in the Finnish capital.

Life & society Environment

Peatland restoration strengthens Finland’s biodiversity

Increased government funding is good news for efforts to restore some of the country’s most widespread and important natural habitats. Put on your boots and step with us into the swamps of the Finnish countryside (article includes slideshow).

Life & society Helsinki

Snow brings light and life to Helsinki

[With this article, photographer Tim Bird is a finalist for Travel Photo Feature of the Year in the Excellence Awards of the British Guild of Travel Writers.] In recent years, southern Finland has experienced a prevalence of comparatively mild winters, in line with predictions and observations of climate change. Every so often, though, a series of snowstorms changes the way Helsinki residents look at their city (article includes slideshow).

Life & society Architecture

Helsinki’s renovated Olympic Stadium launches into a new era

The Olympic Stadium was unveiled four years after extensive renovations began. Its 1930s functionalist architecture and design have been meticulously preserved and enhanced with 21st-century technology and facilities (see photo show).