Large, medium and small events that are recurring hits year after year. Public music, sports and food events bubbling just under the surface or being held for the first time. Large numbers of conferences and business events. These are just examples of the kinds of events being held in Helsinki, lists the City of Helsinki’s Head of Brand, Events & Marketing Sanna Forsström.
“An event is kind of like the city in miniature. It shapes people’s impression of Helsinki as a city and has the power to develop it,” she says.
According to Forsström, events are important for Helsinki in many ways, including in terms of appeal, vitality and the economy.
“This has been confirmed by various studies and analyses over both the short and long term. Our dream is to next start studying the softer and more human aspects of events, such as their impacts on well-being.”
The rapidly approaching summer season is the most event-filled season of the year.
“Summer is the time for outdoor events in particular. These include Tuska, Flow and Sideways, which are all examples of events that are beloved by their respective target audiences and constantly growing and developing,” Forsström says.
Forsström also praises the heavy metal music festival Tuska for the way in which it takes the city residents living near the event area, Suvilahti, into consideration.
“Tuska has also incorporated Redi shopping centre into the event, creating a lot of added value for Redi's business owners.”
Summer events pull big crowds despite the shortage of large venues
Helsinki is a major city for events, as nearly 1.5 million Finnish adults are interested in the events held in Helsinki. The City puts a great deal of effort into post-event surveys, the results of which paint a picture of Helsinki as an open, safe and vibrant city for events. For international visitors, Helsinki is a surprising city – in the positive sense, of course.
“What people find particularly surprising is how many interesting things you can encounter in Helsinki even during a short visit. And what a vibrant and urban, yet also oxygen-rich city Helsinki is. This is directly related to the various events, services and content offered by the city,” Forsström says.
The demand for events has started to rapidly recover post-COVID. Both 2022 and 2023 were record-breaking years in terms of ticket sales, confirms Sami Kerman from the Finnish event industry organisation Tapahtumateollisuus ry.
“There has been a lot of talk about consumers postponing their purchasing decisions. However, events that have established audiences and a good and patiently-built brand can rest assured, as long as they maintain their level of quality,” Kerman says.
There are also challenges. According to Kerman, the overall increase in costs is also evident in the event sector, where it has been compensated for by raising ticket prices. In terms of live music events, there is also a shortage of large venues in Helsinki, particularly due to the closure of Helsinki Halli.
“On the other hand, Helsinki also has the Olympic Stadium, the Ice Hall and a variety of smaller, versatile venues, such as the renovated Kulttuuritalo, Garden, Böle and Arabia135, as well as the developing area of Suvilahti. These venues are ideal not only for public events, but business events as well,” Kerman says.
From the perspective of live music, summer is the most important season.
“This summer, we will be organising a record-breaking seven performances at the Olympic Stadium, including four performances by Coldplay, which have already proven immensely popular,” says Mirkka Rautala from LiveNation Finland, which produces gigs and festivals for both domestic and international artists.
Sanna Forsström also highlights the Feast Helsinki food week taking place in May–June and the international sailing event the Tall Ships Races, which will be held in July.
“It is important that we have a wide variety of events for different audiences,” she says.
Helsinki is a platform for events – and surprising pilot projects
The City of Helsinki supports events with its City Strategy. In addition to renting out its own facilities and venues, the City takes into account the needs of events in the development of new and existing areas.
“We work closely with the event industry in matters related to the impact assessment and sustainability of events. We facilitate major events and a variety of cultural content and events through cultural grants, for example,” Forsström lists.
The City has also developed its operating methods in terms of permit processes to be as smooth as possible. The City engages in close cooperation with event organisers, who receive planning support from City employees, says Mirkka Rautala.
“A city the size of Helsinki has a lot of bureaucracy to deal with. As a result, event organisers have to communicate with many different parties within the City organisation,” she adds.
The cooperation between the City and event organisers also gives rise to some surprising events held at unexpected venues. These include the Mamma Mia! musical in Kaivopuisto Park and the U Nation electronic music event in Kansalaistori Square that were piloted together with LiveNation last summer.
“These were very successful events on which we received positive feedback from attendees. Both were held at venues that cannot be continuously reserved for commercial use. However, Mamma Mia! proved that major public events can be brought even to sensitive areas such as Kaivopuisto Park,” Rautala says.
Joy, sustainability and well-being for all kinds of event-goers
The City of Helsinki has long been investing in sustainability and responsibility in all its activities. As part of these efforts, Helsinki provides instructions and assistance to event organisers on how to organise climate-friendly events, including providing access to a carbon footprint calculator, for example.
“We have a set of partnership criteria for our partner events, which emphasise sustainability. We also employ a prioritisation model in our noise permit process that puts sustainably organised projects first,” Forsstöm says.
“Sustainability is verified with an EcoCompass certificate, among other means. Our efforts have borne fruit, as based on post-event surveys, the carbon footprint of events held in Helsinki is low compared to events held elsewhere in Finland,” she continues.
The carbon footprint of events was measured using Salmi Eventlizer event analysis in 2023. The analysis is based on the activities of event attendees, such as how they get to events and what kinds of consumption choices they made during an event.
In recent years, the City has also paid increasing attention to social sustainability in its event work, such as creating a safe space for all event-goers.
“We have created a social sustainability checklist for our partners in collaboration with the event industry, for example. It includes measures to implement before, during and after an event,” Forsström says.
Forsström points out that events are also important from the perspective of well-being.
“Events bring joy and opportunities to enjoy life in a way that suits you. It is important for everyone to feel accepted at events.”
Text: Venla Seuri