Riding whitewater rapids in northern Finland’s summer wilderness
Families and first-time adventurers head to the rapids of Kuusamo, near the Arctic Circle, to experience northern Finland’s rivers beneath the endless summer light.
9 years and counting: Finland is first in the World Happiness Report
The World Happiness Report singles out Finland as the happiest country in the world in 2026, for the ninth year running. To celebrate, we seek out people named Onni (Happiness) to ask what makes them happy (see video).
Hear Tytti Metsä play an ancient Finnish instrument with a timeless voice: the jouhikko
Few Finns play the bowed lyre, or jouhikko, an instrument whose roots stretch back thousands of years. For Tytti Metsä, its breath-like, singing tone has become the centre of her musical expression.
Trams carry the future in Helsinki and elsewhere in Finland
From the hum of the motor to the clatter of the tracks, people connect Helsinki’s trams with modern daily life and historical memories. This mode of transport will play a central role in the future of the capital and other cities in Finland.
Spotlight on Vörå, Finland: the local impact of KAJ’s Eurovision success
The Swedish-speaking Finnish trio KAJ represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest with a cheerful sauna song that was the hot favourite to win the final last May. In the end, they came in fourth – but they went from local heroes to viral international phenomenon, transforming their home village in the process.
Rising stars Erkki Virkkala and Iikka Huntus: These young fiddlers carry on Finland’s pelimanni folk music tradition
In the small town of Kaustinen, a hotspot for Finnish folk music, two young musicians are making waves. Erkki Virkkala and Iikka Huntus are part of a new generation keeping the pelimanni (folk music) tradition vibrant, blending skill, creativity and a love of playing together.
Finland’s quirky sand skiing world championship also carries a climate warning
Our video shows you a beach on the west coast of Finland where a group of skiers embraces sand instead of snow – not just for sport, but to draw attention to a warming world.
Kaustinen, a small Finnish town renowned for its rich folk music traditions, welcomes festival-goers with a unique night hike through rain-soaked forests and magical cliffs. As fiddles echo in the dusk, hikers from across the globe gather to experience music and nature under the northern summer sky that never goes dark.
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