Navigate LUX with Spaceitup

On Thursday LUX Helsinki will start again. Around town impressive light installations with aw visitors again for four days again. The 9th LUX Helsinki features 15 exiting exhibits by artists from Finland and around the world.

And there is something special about this year's event. The location service Spaceitup has created a map that allows easy navigation along all light installation.

Just install the Android app and enter the LUX space. You find the app here. Be aware that Spaceitup is still in testing phase and might still have some bugs. The app, as well as LUX Helsinki itself is free.

The world's most public sauna

Have you been to Helsinki's only free sauna? It is called Sompasauna and is located in Sompasaari a few hundred meters away from the Kalasatama metro. Sompasauna is run by volunteers and hence completely free to use.

Timo Wilderness made an excellent video about the place. Check it out.


And come to Sompasauna as long as it is still in its location. And if you have an idea or suggestion where a new location for it could be in the next year and want to help rescue the world's most public sauna, leave a comment below or get in touch with the Sompasauna peopled directly through their website.

Night of the Arts

We are in the middle of the Helsinki Festival (Juhlaviikot), the biggest art festival in Finland and one of the best festivals in Helsinki. Until September 4 there are countless big and small events taking place around town.

One of the absolute highlights of Juhlaviikot is the legendary Night of the Arts which is on tonight. Tonight the city if filled with free arts performances, exhibitions, music, kids program and much, much more. Check out everything that happens on the map on their website.

Enjoy the Night of the Arts and the rest of Juhlaviikot and have a great time!

Sunday Salsa in the park

The summer nights in Helsinki are still long. And the weather today should be warm and sunny as well. How about ending the weekend by moving your hips to some cool salsa beats?

Sounds good? Then head to Hesperian puisto. Every Sunday during the summer a live band turns the amphitheater next to the opera into a salsa dance floor. The Oopperasalsat by Salsa Borealis start at 18:00 and is free to join for anyone who is up for some salsa moves.

Drop by and enjoy!

BBQ and music

Today is the second day of the Grillimaisteri tour on Narinkka. Apart from the main event, a grilling competition with prominent Finnish chefs in the jury there is much more happening today.

A great lineup of Finnish bands and singers is awaiting you with gigs from Roope Salminen ja Koirat, Sanni and many more. And don't worry about getting hungry when watching all that cooking. Throughout the day Lidl provides free grilled food like sausages and steaks for everyone. Be prepared to queue for a while though.

The event starts at noon and goes on until nine in the evening. Entrance is of course free. Check it out and have a nice Sunday!

Winter is coming...in spring

Nono, don't worry, the cold time of the year is over. But Game of Thrones is in town. Today The Hall Of Faces open its doors on Narinkkatori. The exhibition on the successful fantasy TV show is free to enter and lets you dive into the world of Game of Thrones.

Put your picture in the hall of faces, sit on the iron throne and fight with "Needle", Ayra's sword.

The exhibition is in Helsinki from Wednesday until Sunday. So don't miss out and drop by.

#freeHAM today

Start the weekend with a free visit to an art exhibition. The HAM Helsinki Art Museum at Tennispalatsi invites to their #freeHAM Friday.

Starting from 16:00 the doors open for everyone to just walk in and have a look at their current exhibitions. 

One of them is on Tove Jansson, the creator of the Moomins and much more.

Drop by and have a look.

The magic of LUX

The light exhibition LUX opened this week. And if you haven't seen it yet you should not miss out on the possibility.

Throughout the city center impressive light installations by Finnish and international artists have been set up.

LUX is on until Sunday. So take out the warm winter clothes and go through an evening walk through town. The lights are on until 22:00 every evening.

Welcome the new year

It is the last day of the year. Time to celebrate the a hopefully successful 2015 and the beginning of an even better 2016 for all of you.

If you want to welcome the new year together with lots of other Helsinkians then come to Senaatintori tonight. It is the biggest party in town and as every year a full program is awaiting. The celebration will be kicked off at 22:00 with the We Love Helsinki DJ. Later Finnish pop star Maija Vilkkumaa will sing live on stage. The celebrations will culminate with a musical fireworks display at midnight.

There is of course no entry fee. Check out the whole program on VisitHelsinki. And don't miss out on the great deals offered by many restaurants in the city center that are only valid today on the bottom of the page.

Have a great start into the new year!

Free museum entrance

Are you up for some art? Then come to the Sinebrychoff Museum of Art on Bulevardi just a few hundred meters away from the city center.

They have changing exhibitions on the ground floor and the basement. And apart from that their house museum on the first floor is open to anyone for free.

Have a look and enjoy!

The startups take over Helsinki

Slush, the biggest startup in Northern Europe is approaching fast. And the startup community is on fire. Around Slush countless events take place all around the city. And to most of them you don't need a Slush pass.

If you always wanted to dive a bit deeper into the startup scene this is your chance. During the weekend you can attend several hackathons in Helsinki where developers, developers, hardware specialists and companies come together to code, hack, network and have fun.

Check out all the events on the Slush website.

Have a nice and exciting weekend!

Helsinki this week

Did you know that there is a free magazine on things happening in Helsinki every week?

It is called Helsiki This Week and gives you a whole lot of useful information and interesting articles.

You can find it at the tourist information, museums and hotels. Or you can also just check out their online version providing the same information and many useful links.

Helsinki goes Nippon

For the next few day Helsinki become a little Japanese. During the Japan Week starting today the Japanese culture will be presented through exhibitions, workshops and performances. 

The events will take place at Annantalo, Wanha Satama and Savoy Theater. The big opening will be today at Kamppi Kauppakeskus and Narinkkatori starting at noon. For more information about the program follow the links above or check out VisitHelsinki (program only in Finnish). All events are free of charge.

Enjoy Japanese culture in Helsinki!

Grand Opening at Forum

Forum finished its big rennovation and is celebrating this with a Grand Opening party. Until October 25 there is a big program with lots of happenings every day at the shopping center.

During the next days there will be something for everyone. Forum has DJs, live music acts, kids program, special offers and much, much more. For families Saturday is probably the best day to visit. It's kids day.

All events are of course free of charge. Have a look at their website for the whole program.

Check it out and have a nice weekend!

Free entrance to Ateneum

Ateneum is one of Helsinki's most renowned and well-known museums. A must-see for everyone visiting or living in the city.

And now you have the chance to visit it for free. Until October 22 the entrance to the museum is free. Have a look at some of the most important art pieces of Ateneum's collection from Finnish and international masters.

Don't miss out on the opportunity! For more information and the opening times visit their website.

10 years Karnival of Lights

The season at Linnanmäki ends again with a big party. Today the Valokarnevaali starts for the 10th time. During the next week the whole park will be bathed in colorful, beautiful and mystical lights.

For the 10th anniversary of its light karnival Lintsi again invited several music acts for every evening. Among them are Santa Cruz, Raapana, Krista Siegfrids and many more. You can find the whole program and all activities and events around it on their website.

The entrance to the park is free as always. And so are of course also the gigs. Don't miss it!

Germans, the invisible foreigners?

Finland is this far away, isolated country up North, right? Well, actually Finland was probably less isolated than you would think. Apart from its neighbors it was also in regular exchange with many German speaking areas and countries.

There are a lot of German influences to be found in Finland and especially in Helsinki. The German Culture Week starting this Friday shows that.

In three exhibitions accompanied by several other events it introduces the German culture in Finland, Helsinki as well as German culture in general. More information on the German Culture Week under the motto "The invisible foreigners?" can be found on Facebook and the official website.

All events are free of charge. The exhibitions stay open at the International Culture Center Caisa until October 25.

Light in the underworld Helsinki

It get's dark earlier again these days. That doesn't have to be a bad thing though. Now not only the city lights come back but there is also space for light installations again.

One of them can still be seen today on Baana, the walking and cycling path connecting Ruoholahti with Kansalaispuisto.

"Light in the underworld Helsinki" is light exhibition with several installations along the path. It can be best seen during the evening ours. It is free and open for everyone.

Check it out tonight and have a nice Sunday!

Sibelius' trees

Helsinki celebrates the 150th birthday of Jean Sibelius this year. Among many other events and happening throughout the whole year the city of Helsinki introduced the Sibelius tree walk.

All around town small signs were attached to selected trees. After scanning the QR code with their smartphone visitors can hear music Sibelius dedicated to the specific type of tree.

So keep your eyes open for those signs and let Sibelius share his feelings about the Finnish nature with you.

A night full of art

One of the big highlights of every year's Helsingin Juhlaviikot is the legendary Night of the Arts. And today it takes place again.

If you didn't have any plans for tonight so far, now you do. Because the Night of the Arts is definitely something you shouldn't miss. A full night of dance, music, poetry, movies, theater, exhibitions and much much more is awaiting you. The events take place all around town and are all free of charge.

For an overview of what's going on tonight check out the Night of the Arts website. Have a great evening!