Esa-Pekka Salonen is one of Finland’s most established conductors and composers. His dedication to redefining classical music in the 21st century has included working with top orchestras, opera houses and festivals worldwide. He has previously conducted orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony. The Polar Music Prize, founded by ABBA manager Stig Anderson in 1989 and considered one of the most prestigious awards in music, is bestowed annually upon one contemporary musician and one clas ..read more

Finland’s live music industry aims to be an international trailblazer in carbon neutrality. Industry groups including the Finland Festivals Association and the Association of Finnish Symphony Orchestras teamed up for a year-long study of the industry’s carbon footprint, cofunded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. In 2023 they unveiled their Cool Music climate roadmap at Helsinki’s G Livelab club. Finland is committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2035, so every sector of the economy is involved – not just heavy industry, but also “lighter” fields such as the arts. The live music roadmap ..read more

Over three days in August, Flow Festival welcomed about 30,000 visitors a day. Many of them came to see headliners such as Suede, Lorde and Blur. Those were just a few of the more than 150 artists or ensembles playing that weekend at the four large outdoor stages, four open-air club areas and one indoor stage. Suvilahti, the former industrial area that has hosted Flow for more than half of the festival’s two decades of existence, resounded with local and international musicians and DJs from afternoon till early morning: Sudan Archives, Christine and the Queens, Alma, Caroline Polachek, Tove Lo ..read more

Flow Festival, a massive music event held in Helsinki in early August, is the urban festival. It hosts more than 150 music performances on nine stages, as well as two dozen food vendors and several art exhibitions. (Slideshow below.) It’s urban, romantic and modern. The first half of August is the perfect time for a festival in Helsinki; although the white nights of June and July have receded, the days are still long and a lot of summer light remains. Since 2007, Flow Festival has taken place in Suvilahti (which means “Summer Bay”), a former industrial district next to the new neighbourhood of ..read more

Here are just a few of them – for the full list and descriptions, see the link below. In June, check out Finnish and foreign indie music at the Sideways Festival in Helsinki, or head to the far north for music, artworks and modern circus at the Silence Festival in Finnish Lapland. During the first weekend in July, you could catch heavy metal greats at Tuska in Helsinki and jump over to eastern Finland for the renowned Savonlinna Opera Festival. In August, there’s hip hop at Blockfest in the southern central city of Tampere. In the far-northern town of Inari, Ijahis idja (Nightless Night) celeb ..read more

At the time of our interview, Perttu Pölönen had just returned from the Eurasian Media Forum in Kazakhstan, where he had taken part in a panel discussion about the future of the labour and education markets. He gives hundreds of speeches every year to audiences at home and abroad. “Tomorrow I am travelling to Austria to give a keynote about future skills in the EuroSkills competition,” he says. “It is wonderful, since I believe in cooperation and networking.” Technology helps us stay globally connected, but it also has changed the way we look at our own skills and our children’s education. Pöl ..read more

The definition of “culture” refers to customs and social norms, but additionally extends to all forms of the arts. Finnish Culture Day is also called Kalevala Day, after the national epic Kalevala, a book of verses that were an oral tradition until 1835, when they were published in written format as collected by the scholar Elias Lönnrot. While cultural events continue nonstop throughout the winter, many Finnish people are already looking forward to the summer festival season. During long days when the sun hardly sets at all, people get together to enjoy the enthralling atmosphere that arises ..read more

Salmela Art Centre, Mäntyharju, June 11–Aug 14, 2022 Photo: Tero Sivula / Lehtikuva A multi-arts programme is on offer, incorporating concerts and exhibitions of Finnish contemporary art. Salmela is situated in the historical parish village of Mäntyharju by Lake Pyhävesi. An old parish cottage built in the 1850s serves as its oldest exhibition room. Moomin World, June 11–Aug 21, 2022 Photo: Moomin Characters™ This children’s theme park is based on the Moomin books by Swedish-speaking Finnish author and artist Tove Jansson. The blueberry-coloured Moomin House is the main attraction. Guests ..read more

Waves of electronic sound wash through a vast, Pantheon-like space under a 40-metre dome. Visitors lounge on platforms that shudder with vibrations from a sound bath and a gong wired to multiple speakers. Butterfly Effect, an audio installation by Antti Tolvi, filled a century-old gasometer at Helsinki’s former Suvilahti power plant during Flow Festival – just one of a growing number of ambient phenomena in Finland. Space is the place Antti Tolvi’s music draws power from spaces such as this former industrial building.Photo: Petri Anttila/Flow Festival “I like to create sound with lots of emp ..read more

Elo, one of Finland’s top choreographers, has decades of experience dancing and creating ballets for esteemed companies in Europe and North America. His Sibelius premiered in Helsinki in spring 2022, when the Finnish National Ballet marked its centenary. About four years earlier, the company’s artistic management had contacted him to discuss creating a full-length piece about a historical figure, something special for their 100th anniversary. Jean Sibelius (December 8, 1865–September 20, 1957) emerged as the clear frontrunner. Just about everyone in Finland recognises certain Sibelius pieces ..read more