Urban - 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.

Mellunmäki

The world's northernmost metro station, in Helsinki

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 Webpick

Helsinki named best city for work-life balance

The 2019 Work-Life Balance Index has listed Helsinki as the best city for work-life balance among 40 of the world’s most attractive cities.

85.4%

of Finns live in urban areas

Source: UN World Urbanisation Prospects

Life & society Nature

Finnish summer in the city: garden getaways

When you hear the words “Finland” and “nature,” you may think of the country’s large expanses of forest and numerous lakes. On a different scale, allotment gardens offer many Finnish city-dwellers a way to spend time surrounded by nature.

Arts & culture Slideshows

Lux Helsinki fends off the winter darkness

Full of illuminated surprises, the annual Lux Helsinki light festival uses coloured beams to transform some of the city’s best loved buildings and streets in early January. You can see them in our photos without braving the cold.

Arts & culture Cuisine

Helsinki’s Flow Festival: Great for vegetarians

Flow Festival is known for more than music; it’s also about food – and there’s also plenty for vegetarians to enjoy. But you don’t have to wait for the festival weekend, since almost all the dishes we sample here are on offer all year round in Helsinki.

Helsinki is the city with the best work life balance

Source: Work–Life Balance Index, 2021