This year, Culture Kids have continued to enjoy a wide range of art and cultural events in their hometown. Their sponsors have organised a total of 988 events in different parts of Helsinki, offering 23,622 participation spots for Culture Kids and adults close to them. Children born in Helsinki in 2020 and after are invited to at least two events organised by their cultural sponsor each year until the child starts school.
“Launched in 2020, the Culture Kids activities play an important role in introducing children in Helsinki to the world of art and culture. Among other things, this is evident in that parents and guardians have already registered more than 16,000 children for the activities. The City has included the consolidation of the activities in its new City Strategy for 2025–2029, so that every child in Helsinki can continue to participate in a wide variety of cultural events in the future as well,” says Executive Director Juha Ahonen of the City of Helsinki Culture and Leisure Division.
The latest operator to become a cultural sponsor is the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, which will sponsor children born in Helsinki in 2026.
“We are looking forward to being a sponsor, and we have created new content for the youngest members of families. We already offer a wide range of content, but in the coming season we’ll be focusing on babies in particular. We’ve also been reviewing our own practices with regard to child customers, and we’re trying to create the smoothest and most positive customer experience for families,” says Head of Production Marjo Tuomi from the Finnish National Opera and Ballet.
As the first Culture Kids events to be offered by the Finnish National Opera and Ballet will take place in playgrounds of the City of Helsinki, the Finnish National Opera and Ballet has created the new content for babies specifically for that environment.
“In spring and autumn 2026, we’ll offer our little Culture Kids a Swan Lake themed baby session, where babies and adults can spend a moment together while enjoying music from this wonderful ballet classic. We want to offer a relaxing and positive session designed with babies’ needs in mind,” Tuomi reveals.
In the autumn, the Finnish National Opera and Ballet will also offer a new lullaby workshop for its Culture Kids, where adults will be able to create personal lullabies for their babies under the guidance of professionals.
In 2026, the Culture Kids sponsors will organise more than a thousand free-of-charge events for Culture Kids, tailored to the children’s developmental stage. This brings the total number of participation spots available to around 31,000. Parents and guardians can register children born in 2020 and after who live in Helsinki as Culture Kids on the Culture Kids website.
Other sponsors according to children’s year of birth
2025: HAM Helsinki Art Museum; Amos Rex; Finnish National Gallery, i.e. Ateneum Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and Sinebrychoff Art Museum; UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra; and Sointi Jazz Orchestra.
2024: City of Helsinki’s library and sports services, Circo Aereo.
2023: Architecture and Design Museum Helsinki, Helsinki City Museum, National Museum of Finland, Association of Cultural Heritage Education in Finland, and Helsinki University Museum Flame.
2022: Cirko – Centre for New Circus, Hotel and Restaurant Museum, Finnish Museum of Photography, Dance House Helsinki, Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth, and Theatre Museum.
2021: Helsinki City Theatre, Finnish National Theatre, Svenska Teatern, Theatre ILMI Ö., Q-teatteri, and Puppet Theatre Sampo.
2020: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
The Culture Kids service is administered by the City of Helsinki Culture and Leisure Division and supported by the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation.
