Flow 2014 in pictures

Still one day to go for the Flow Festival 2014. Here are some pictures of the festival so far.

Relax on the long pier leading into the virtual water...

 ...or chill out in the skater area.

 Suvilahti is just the ideal place for a festival.

But when it gets dark it gets even more impressive.

Great music and amazing atmosphere.

That's what Flow Festival is all about.

 And of course amazing food. You can find countless food stands of some of the best restaurants in town here.
 

If you are planning on still joining for the last day, then go ahead. There are still tickets available online or at the main entrance.

Berry picking the easy way

This year the berries don't grow as much as normally due to bad weather conditions. Picking berries by hand might take quite a bit of time. But luckily their is a simple device that makes the berry picking much easier and faster.

With those so called Marjanpoimuri you can basically comb through the shrubbery and it collects all the berries. The Marjanpoimuri are tradtitionaly made from wood and metal. Nowadays you can also find plastic versions. They can be bought for a few euros at almost any supermarket. Try them out.

Good luck picking!

Flow Festival 2014

The Flow Festival starts today. It's one of the coolest and best festivals you can imagine. Not just is the music good and very diverse. Also the location and atmosphere is amazing. Flow Festival takes place in Suvilahti, an old industrial area right next to Sörnainen. Between old warehourses and garages stages as well as food and drink stands are built up.

At Flow Festival it's not just fries and burgers. Some of Helsinki's best restaurants cater here and offer some amazing snacks to keep your hunger away during the day.

Among this year's line up are The National, Skrillex, Jessie Ware, Outcast and many more. Check it out and get your ticket for one, two or all three days online, in one of the sales points around the city or directly at the festival.

I, Helsinki

Well, it’s about time the world noticed me! A lady always appreciates compliments, and in recent years I’ve been getting a lot of fantastic reviews in the media and praise from visitors. I’ve been a European City of Culture, a World Design Capital and even my airport has consistently won awards for quality. Important organizations appreciate my reliability, my beauty, my natural surroundings and my friendly inhabitants.

Helsinki, the proud lady at the shore of the Gulf of Finland introduces herself. She tells about herself, her sights, her culture, her sourroundings and of course her people in the new e-book written by Rusty Snyder.

Rusty, originally from California, has lived and worked in Helsinki for over 30 years and knows the city inside out. He is a journalist, lecturer and author. You can also follow him on twitter.

Find a list of all the online shops selling I, Helsinki from the publisher's website and enjoy this nice little book!

Beautiful summer nights

Don't miss out on the beautiful summer sunsets on the waterfront of Helsinki.

Enjoy your day!

Beware of sinilevä!

It's the perfect weather for a swim in the sea or one of the thousands of Finnish lakes. But be careful. The warm temperatures give the perfect conditions for the blue-green algea (Sinilevä) to grow. And they are unfortunately quite common in Finland. 

Life guards and authorities regularly take samples of the water and warn swimmers in case it get's too dangerous to go swimming in certain areas. Anyway you should always be careful when the water appears very green and follow those ground rules:

- Avoid swallowing the water.

- Keep kids out of the water and away from the shore

- Shower right after swimming

- Avoid swimming if the algea are clearly visible

Since Blue-green algea are likely to produce toxic and irritating substances in the water they may cause skin problems, burning eyes, blocked nose, muscular pain and nausea.

Be careful and don't let that ruin your summer!

Helsinki in 48 hours

Let's start the week with a great video. Jose A. Fuentes and P. Soler from Lavueltaalmundos made an amazing film of the best sights of Helsinki to see in 48 hours. How many places do you recognize?

Have a nice week!

The water is never far

One the great things about the Baltic Sea is that due to its relatively small size compared to other seas its tidal range is quite small. That means that the water is always there and doesn't vanish for hours like elsewhere.

Still there is a small tidal range also here which is just about 20 - 40 cm. At beaches with very shallow water you can still see the effect pretty well though. But don't worry, you will never have to walk more than few meters more to reach the refreshing water.

Enjoy your Sunday at the beach or whereever you might be today!

Block Party in Kallio

Do you have any plans for today? No? Then off to Kallio. Today it's Block Party time there. The whole neighborhood turns into a big party with live music, food, drinks, sports, dance, kids program and much more.

The party starts today at 13.00 and continues until 22.00 in the evening. To see what happens when or which stage check out the full program of tonight.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

The best view over Helsinki

Helsinki doesn't have many very high buildings. One of the highest ones is Hotel Torni. And on the very top of it you find Ateljee Bar.

Coming up here is a must for every tourist visiting Helsinki. From both their terraces you have a great view over the whole city and can get a good overview of what is where in Helsinki. You can see all of Helsinki's main sights and neighborhoods from Linnanmäki to Kaivopuist, from Katajanokka to Lauttasaari.

But Ateljee is not only a place for tourists. Also for locals it's a great place to come from time to time to see their beautiful city from above and enjoy the view with a glass of wine or an outstanding cocktail.

To get to Ateljee Bar you have to enter from the main entrance of Hotel Torni and take the small evelator to the 12th floor. You have to climb the last steps yourself. And if you are at Ateljee don't forget to go to the bathroom. The toilets here are the most impressive in whole Helsinki.

Check it out!