Helsinki City Marathon is run on Saturday 14th August, 2010. The first Helsinki City Marathon was organized in 1981 with 1,574 runners. In August 2010 the event is organized for the 30th time and hence, it is time to celebrate.

Set yourself a challenge to run the 42,195 meters long route along the beautiful streets of Helsinki! The refreshment points, happy runners to run with and the fresh breath of the sea wind along the route will help you all the way to the finish. The last date to sign up for the run is 31st July 2010.

Additional info: www.helsinkicitymarathon.fi

Helsinki Festival is the largest arts festival in Finland, organised annually in late summer. The festival's aim is to make art accessible for all. The Helsinki Festival is arranged this year from August 20 to September 5.

The Night of the Arts 27.8.2010

This is the night when Helsinki never sleeps. The August night will be filled with events and experiences of all shapes and sizes from the early evening until the small hours. Discover what's going on just around the corner - in the city's parks, streets and squares. Full Night of the Arts programme is available from August.

Additional information and Festival programme: www.helsinginjuhlaviikot.fi

Tickets: www.lippu.fi

Young footballers from around the world are gathering up in Helsinki to play the traditional Helsinki Cup which is organized every summer. This summer Helsinki Cup will take place 11.–17.7. Like last summer there will be a big Helsinki Cup event at Kamppi's Narinkkatori at the centre of Helsinki during the tournament. All in all football will be played in 45 football fields all over Helsinki. Naturally, the highlight of Helsinki Cup will be the finals played in Pallokenttä. The Opening ceremony of Helsinki Cup will be particularly special this year as July 11th is the day when the finals of World Cup will be played in South Africa. This summer will be a dream come true for a football fan!

Important:

11.7.2010 Teams arrive to Helsinki

11.7.2010 Opening ceremony

13.7.2010 Helsinki Cup Disco

17.7.2010 Finals

17.7.2010 Teams depart Helsinki

Additional info www.helsinkicup.fi

In January 2011, the lighting installations of the Season of Light will illuminate Helsinki to a greater extent than ever before. Several foreign top designers in lighting are going to participate in this free-of-charge urban event.

Next year, too, Helsinki will break the darkest time of the year with the help of lighting installa-tions. In the first week of January, the Senate Square and the Parliament House are being transformed into stages of various exciting installations.

Besides Finnish lighting artist Mikki Kunttu, several international top designers in lighting art will participate in the Season of Light. They come from England, Germany, Sweden and Finland. The installations of the event are going to illuminate the very centre of Helsinki to a greater extent than ever before. Thanks to the light, Helsinki will treat everyone to a strong experience and a free-of-charge urban event that shines more brightly than any other in the Baltic area.

Last Monday the artists of the Season of Light acquainted themselves with the possibilities for lighting art in Helsinki, and after their visit they are able to start their actual designing work.

Lighting artists of the Season of Light 2010:

Mikki Kunttu has worked in a variety of ways in the fields of theatre, popular music, opera, television and industrial art. He was in charge of the lighting and video design for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki. He was also in charge of the lighting design for the last two Season of Light urban events. Additional information www.mikkikunttu.com

Tülay Schakir from Finland has worked with lighting in the fields of environment, architecture, modern dance and lighting art both in public places and in connection with private exhibitions. She has received a Finnish State Prize for Art and been awarded a Black Woodpecker Prize by the Artists’ Association of Finland. Additional information www.valotoimisto.net/suunnittelija/index.html

Matt Clark from England is Creative Director at United Visual Artists in London. He and his partners create lighting art with an open mind in various places and in various situations. Some of their latest works are winter illumination in London’s Covent Garden, a New York Fashion Week (Fall 2010) and a light show at rock concerts (Massive Attack World Tour 2008). Additional information www.uva.co.uk

Martin Kuhn from Germany is a versatile lighting artist in Berlin who has been active in the field for almost 30 years. He has received various awards internationally and been in charge of lighting at several public events, for example the opening ceremony of the World Championships in Athletics in Berlin 2009 and an architecture exhibition in Mexico. Additional information www.mkld.de

Per Sundin from Sweden is a distinct pioneer of lighting art. During his career of more than 20 years, he has made productions for television, concerts, theatre and various events, such as lighting at the City Hall of Stockholm as well as celebrations held by the Swedish Royal Court. Additional information www.persundin.com

Main partner in co-operation for the event is Helsingin Energia.

Read press release published on 22.6.2010

Information:

www.valonvuodenaika.fi

www.seasonoflight.fi

www.hel.fi/events

www.helen.fi

Helsinki and Kainuu, known for the Region Pilot Project, will build up new type of co-operation during the theme year 2010.The aim is to exchange experiences and views and possibly find new forms of co-operation in the business and tourism sectors, for instance. The year offers many Kainuu people an opportunity to create connections in the metropolitan area on one hand, and for Helsinki people an opportunity to learn to know Kainuu on the other.

During the theme year, Helsinki presents herself in the cultural events of Kainuu Summer with the theme Helsinki Residents Now – Encounters in Kainuu, among others. The Helsinki City Board for their part will make a fact-finding trip to Kainuu on August 11-13. The Board will learn about the Region Pilot Project and local employment models.

Industrial co-operation will culminate in Kuhmo on August 12 in a business seminar Helsinki – Kainuu: Creators of the Future. The speakers come from the top brass of Finnish business life: Mr. Jussi Pesonen, CEO UPM (United Paper Mills), Minister Mauri Pekkarinen, Mr. Erkki Leppävuori, Director General VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland), Mr. Jussi Pajunen, Mayor of Helsinki, Mr. Lauri Nakari, CEO Kuhmo Ltd. and Mr. Alpo Jokelainen, Kainuu Region Mayor.

Helsinki in Kainuu Cultural Events

The Helsinki in Kainuu project offers Helsinki youth an opportunity to participate in the Young Theatre camp on June 11-19 in Ristijärvi. The participants were found through Kallio Upper Secondary School of Performing Arts and the drama club of Q Theatre.

In July, accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen and juggler Ville Walo perform in Kuhmo folk music event entitled Sommelo. Philomela Choir from Helsinki with Marjukka Riihimäki as choir conductor will perform in Kajaani Poetry Week event.

Furthermore, Helsinki gives a special concert Towards the Sea in the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival.

Main Festival Takes Place in August

The theme year will culminate in the festive week-end in August. Mayor Jussi Pajunen will give the main speech in the traditional Kainuu Regional festival on August 14. The Helsinki Guard Brass Band with soloists will also perform. The performers in the main concert of the co-operation year on August 15 will include UMO Jazz Orchestra and Rajaton Vocal Ensemble. The public has free entry to the events and free transport will be organized from different parts of Kainuu to Kajaani city.

Moreover, the City of Helsinki Library will also introduce literature from Kainuu in their outlets and on their net pages.

Further information: http://kainuu.fi/helsinki_kainuussa

www.facebook.com/kainuu

The biggest jazz festival of Finland’s capital city area is arranged in Espoo from April 28th to May 2nd for the 24rd time.

The warm and cozy Festival tent will traditionally be located next to the Espoo Cultural Centre. Venue’s restaurant services will be provided by the TV chef Jyrki Sukula’s catering company “Kaikilla Mausteilla” (With all spices).

The April Jazz tent’s program will be opened on Wednesday 28.4, by a soul-funk band The Brand New Heavies and the Japanese Jazztronic. On Thursday Zap Mama will mesmerize the audience with soulful afro-jazz. First of May will be paraded with the hottest jams when Dwayne Dopsie & the Hellraisers turns the heat on with the Swedish latin-combo Calle Real. The May Day’s Jazzy brunch entertains the whole family with high quality live artists from Finland and abroad. The same evening the famous pianist George Duke, who is also known from the legendary Frank Zappa’s band, will climb on the stage.

This year April Jazz salutes the all stars of jazz. One of the most awaited artists of the festival is 85-year- old drummer legend Roy Haynes, not to mention the guitar hero of jazz, Stanley Jordan, from New York.

Joni Mitchell Sinphonically will be performed by Tapiola Sinfonietta and Espoo Big Band together at Tapiola Hall. The performance is conducted and arranged by Petri Juutilainen and featured by sin-gers Emma Salokoski, Johanna Iivanainen and saxophonist Manuel Dunkel.

Sokos Hotel Tapiola Garden is the spot for the festival’s international jamming after party, where the restaurant Sevilla will serve Spanish late-night delicacies.

April Jazz is known from its warm atmosphere and for opening the festival season. The City of Espoo once again supports the festival greatly, making it possible again.

Additional information

The City of Helsinki will join WWF’s Earth Hour climate awareness campaign on March 27th, to show its support for actions to fight climate change. For one hour on that day, from 20:30 to 21:30, companies, other organizations and individuals around the world will switch off lights as a symbol for their concern for the climate change.

The City will participate in the campaign at many central sites. The outdoor lighting will be turned off at the City Hall, the Olympic Stadium tower, Finlandia Hall and many other City operations. The City energy company Helsingin Energia will turn off the neon and decorative lights on the façade of its head office and at other operations, and the Port of Helsinki will turn off many lights at its harbours.

A light artwork by Miska Knapek will be projected onto the façade of the National Theatre from 20:30 to 22:00. The artwork visualizes fluctuations in Helsinki’s energy consumption in real time, to make citizens aware of their energy use. The project is produced by Helsingin Energia.

The main Earth Hour event in Helsinki will take place in the Esplanade Park starting at 20:00. The performers will include fire-performance artists and bands on the outdoor Espa Stage (More information here in Finnish).

The City of Helsinki has opened a feedback forum on the Web for good ideas on how to slow down the climate change. Ideas that are posted before April 1st will be evaluated by a jury, and the best ones will be awarded on April 15th. The main prize is a Jopo-bicycle. Ideas can be posted at feedback webpage (the page is in Finnish only).

A Finnish and American group of architectural students designed a Kalevala-inspired installation that will be constructed by the students in 9 days at the southern tip of Seurasaari during the dates of 16.-26.8.2010. The installation will be called Kalevalakehto: Shaman’s Haven of the Kalevala.

The American architect Travis Price was invited to Finland by the City of Helsinki in Spring 2009. During his visit he conceived of the Kalevala inspired Spirit of Place/ Spirit of Design project.

In autumn 2009 Travis Price gathered a group of architectural/design students from around the US and the Aalto University. There are 23 students from the US and 8 students from Finland taking part in the construction of the project.

The goal of the Spirit of Place/ Spirit of Design project is to create meaningful places to echo and cele-brate the most ancient cultural lyrics of place within a modern design. The themes for the Seurasaari project were derived from the Kalevala: the birth myth, the mysteries of the Sampo, and the non-linear and cyclical time represented by the shamanic character of Väinämöinen.

The Kalevalakehto has received support from The City of Helsinki and the Finnish Cultural Foundation, and from US and Finnish sponsors including Outokumpu, Fenestra, Kuhmo Oy, Woodpolis, Iittala, and Marimekko. The National Geographic Society, Helsinki Design Week, Seurasaari Foundation, Finnish Literary Society, and Kalevala Society also support the prog-ramme. The demountable installation will be owned by the City of Helsinki after its completion. It has a temporary permit in Seurasaari until 31.12.2010. The project will be dedicated in a ceremony on August 26, 2010, which will launch Helsinki Design Week. It will also be part of celebrations of Helsinki as World Design Capital 2012.

Spirit of Place / Spirit of Design is a non-profit organization founded by Travis Price who has completed similar building projects around the world over fifteen years: (the US, Canada, Italy, Nepal, Peru and Ireland) http://www.spiritofplace-design.com/

The project is a follow up to the MyHelsinki exhibition organized by the Embassy of Finland and the City of Helsinki at the Embassy in Washington DC in May 2009.

Turku and Tallinna will present themselves in Helsinki at the Nordic Travel Fair “Matka” in January and in Senate Square in June.

The 2011 European Capitals of Culture are a unique pair and two of the most beautiful cities on the shores of the Baltic Sea: Turku in Finland and Tallinn in Estonia. These two Capitals of Culture are closer to each other than any previous pairing, not only in terms of distance but also in terms of their shared history, culture and values – not to mention their common sea.

The Baltic Sea plays the starring role in the joint programmes of the 2011 European Capitals of Culture. Altogether there will be around ten of these programmes, which will be published in April 2010.

The two cities are engaging in close co-operation throughout the project, and also afterwards. One of the most important goals of both Turku and Tallinn is to leave a lasting impression on their cities and residents, as well as in a variety of operating models within and between the cities.

Helsinki plays host to Capitals of Culture

Turku and Tallinn will visit Helsinki again in June 2010, when the two Capitals of Culture present their best in Senate Square, along Esplanade Park and in Helsinki’s top clubs and restaurants.

Turku and Tallinn will arrive in Helsinki in the afternoon of Friday 11 June. The first big event takes place in Senate Square on the same evening, followed by performances of electronic music from Turku and Tallinn in Helsinki’s clubs.

Saturday 12 June is Helsinki Day, when the city’s own birthday celebrations take over the city centre. Turku and Tallinn are also invited to the party and will participate, for example, in the traditional samba carnaval.

On Sunday 13 June Turku and Tallinn will again present themselves throughout Helsinki. The programme includes a fun cultural event for the entire family.

The 2011 European Capitals of Culture Turku and Tallinn will publish their full programmes for their visit to Helsinki in April 2010.

The Helsinki-Madrid FINDESIGN Exhibition was held at the Central de Diseño, Matadero from 4 November 2009 to 10 January 2010. The exhibition marked the main event of Finnish Design Month (Mes des Diseño Finlandés). The main promoter of the event was the City of Helsinki, which has adopted the promotion of design as part of its new strategy. The exhibition also served as an excellent forum for promoting Helsinki as World Design Capital 2012. Approximately 20,000 visitors attended the exhibition over the two-month period.

The exhibition presented hundreds of examples of design in different fields – from furniture and textiles to footwear, tableware and lighting. Established classics were exhibited alongside the latest innovations in design. Contemporary design emphasises a holistic approach that covers everything from graphic design to architecture, industrial design to fashion, and even designing services. The key words for the future are interactivity and communication, as well as tailored products that end users themselves will be able to help design.

The exhibition was produced by Helsinki Design Week in partnership with the City of Helsinki, the Finnish Institute in Madrid and the Association of Designers in Madrid DIMAD. Four design experts from Madrid also visited Helsinki in September to find out more about local design companies and to select the most interesting products for the exhibition. Their journals can be read online on the MyHelsinki website:

http://www.myhelsinki.fi/helsinki-madrid.html

Image © Hilkka Hytönen

As part of the design exhibition, the Helsinki City Event Office produced three special events for specific target audiences.

On Sunday 13 December 2009 the Arkki School of Architecture for Children and Youth organised a workshop entitled “Arquitectura Dulce” for young people between the ages of 5 and 11. Architect and Pedagogue Pihla Meskanen acted as the director of the workshop. The participants in this family event designed headwear from candies and cocktail sticks and presented them on the “hatwalk”.

On Monday 14 December 2009 Pihla Meskanen gave a lecture on children and architecture at the La Casa Encendida cultural centre. A large number of architects and students participated in the event.

On Thursday 17 December 2009 the Uusix workshops of the Helsinki City Social Services Department presented itself at the Matadero Design Centre. Workshop Manager Vuokko Oikarinen and Ceramic Artist Lisa Giraldo-Gerdt presented the ethical principle of their workshops, which is based on sustainable development. Approximately 300 persons work in the Uusix workshops. Half of them are in the rehabilitating program and the rest are trainees or subsidised and permanent staff. All Uusix products are handmade using recycled materials.

Finnish Design Month attracted a lot of attention in Spain, both in the printed media and online. El País magazine published a six-page article on the exhibition in its weekly supplement, while La Vanguardia wrote four pages on the exhibition in its own weekly supplement. Through these and other channels Helsinki and Finnish design were promoted among millions of Spanish readers.

StadiJump in the middle of Helsinki, Kamppi's Narinkkatori 12.-14.2.2010 gathers together a group of daredevils and their fans. You can join too! 

On the opening weekend of the Olympic Games there will be a K5-sized ski-jump hill in the middle of Narinkkatori. This event aims to bring ski-jump closer to city and its inhabitants and also respect the strong traditions that ski-jump holds in Finland. The official opening jump is jumped on Friday 12 February at 5 pm. The jumper will be the famous Finnish ski-jumper, the Olympic Winner Toni Nieminen himself. Also there will be ski-jump training and a chance to try up your own ski-jumping skills. StadiJump is organized by Story Of Sports and it is carried out in co-operation of Finnjumping association and the City of Helsinki.

The official website of the event can be found here.

Helsinki Week will be celebrated in 2010 on 3-20 June and Helsinki Day on 12 June.

Helsinki Week offers and expanded programme of events before, during and after Helsinki Day. This summer residents and tourists of all ages will be treated to exciting things to do and experience. The diverse programme can be seen, heard and even tasted throughout Helsinki, from the city centre to outlying suburbs.

Helsinki Day celebrates the city’s birthday, as well as the 20th anniversary of the Samba Carnaval. In honour of this special occasion, the fun carnaval spirit and music will take over Helsinki this year for the entire weekend.

Details about the programme will be updated on the www.helsinkiviikko.fi website throughout the spring.

Helsinki will serve as World Design Capital in 2012. The arrangements begin immediately.

 “We invite all residents, design companies and other interested or-ganisation in Helsinki Region, as well as the design professionals and enthusiasts who intend to visit in 2012, to take part in the prepara-tions and special events. It is a great opportunity to harness design in order to develop Helsinki and the other participating municipalities taking part in this project socially, culturally and economically, as highlighted in the selection criteria for the World Design Capital,” comments Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen.

“Our work begins immediately. The project involves much more than just a single year or a single city. The World Design Capital designa-tion serves the long-term development of the entire region. At the same time we can strengthen our international position.”

“This is a tremendous honour and important recognition for Helsinki and the consortium of municipalities and partners that supported our bid, including Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen and Lahti, as well as nu-merous other organisations and individuals. We intend to make the most of this great opportunity,” comments Mayor Pajunen, who ac-cepted the WDC 2012 nomination at the World Design Congress in Singapore.

Image © Joni Rousku

The theme of Helsinki’s bid was “Open Helsinki – Embedding De-sign in Life”. The ambitious programme of events in 2012 will also be based on this theme.

Over 40 cities around the world competed for the title World Design Capital 2012. In the final voting Helsinki was chosen ahead of Eind-hoven in the Netherlands. The title is awarded every two years to a city who can harness design to enliven and renew its urban environ-ment. The WDC project is design to encourage cities to utilise design for the promotion of social, economic and cultural development. Hel-sinki is the third city to hold the biennial designation following Torino in 2008 and Seoul in 2010.

Helsinki opened its design website to support its application. Further information is available in three languages on the Open Helsinki - Embedding Design in Life website.

Further information about the World Design Capital project

The European Athletics Council has awarded the 2012 European Athletics Championships to Helsinki. The games will be organised by the Finnish Athletics Federation and the City of Helsinki.

It will be a busy year for sports in 2012, as several major events are planned for the same year. To make space for the European Athletics Championships in the summer schedule, the European Cup or European Super league meets that are traditionally held at the same time will not take place.

The European Athletics Association considered several nominees before selecting Helsinki as the host for the 2012 European Athletics Championships. Europe is the last continent to switch to the biannual format. The games will be held in Helsinki from 27 June to 1 July 2012.

Over 1200 athletes representing 50 countries are expected to take part. Almost 2000 volunteers will be required for the organisation of the event. The television rights are still open, and the European Athletics Association, which owns the broadcasting rights, is negotiating principally with the European Broadcasting Union.

Further information on the website of Finnish Athletics Assosiation 

Helsinki is one of the host cities for the 2013 Tall Ships’ Race. The race starts in Århus, Denmark and continues to Helsinki, after which it visits Riga, Latvia before ending in Stettin, Poland. The race will be held in July and August, and the tall ships will spend four days in Helsinki, including at least one weekend day.

The Tall Ships’ Race is held each year on European waters, but only once every four years in the Baltic Sea.

The event will be one of the highlights of the summer in Helsinki in 2013. This year the tall ships will visit the City of Turku on 23-26 July 2010.

Helsinki has previously hosted the Tall Ships’ Race in 1972, 1988 and most recently in 2000, when around 80 ships from around the world participated. The event attracted approximately 450,000 spectators in the Pohjoisranta and Katajanokka districts of Helsinki.

Further information about the event

Before then young people themselves are devising and organising 500 local and at least 5 regional sporting events. Planning and im-plementing these events is a great way to activate and inspire young people. They also know for themselves what kind of event is interest-ing to people of their own age. Your Move addresses a major issue concerning the health of the nation, as less than half of young people exercise sufficiently. Your Move is in fact the most significant event in Finnish sports aimed at young people, and hopefully it will lead to a new culture of health and exercise among youth.

Internet and regional events

Your Move will activate young people in part by utilising the internet. A Your Move community has been created in IRC-Galleria where young people can announce their own events and find other interesting events for themselves. The target is to generate 500 events created by young people themselves by the end of 2011.

Regional Your Move events will be held in spring 2010 throughout Finland, including in Oulu, Seinäjoki, Pori, Joensuu and Helsinki. Each event is expected to be attended by 2000 to 5000 young people.

Your Move main event

Your Move 2011 will culminate in the main event in Helsinki from 27 May to 1 June 2011. In Finland’s biggest recreational and sporting event 50,000 young people will get to try out various disciplines, including fun Japanese-style obstacle courses, and have lots of fun while spending time with each other. The venue for the main event is the Olympic Stadium and adjacent areas.

Further information about this event

Art belongs to everyone again this year in Helsinki Festival from 20 August until 5 September 2010. In 2009 Finland’s biggest arts festival, the Helsinki Festival, broke its visitor target. The overall number of visitors to the Helsinki Festival reached almost 288,000. Ticketed events attracted a record-breaking 92,000 visitors, whilst 196,000 art lovers participated in the free events. More updated information about this year's Helsinki festival can be viewed here.

The Night of the Arts

This is the night when Helsinki never sleeps. The August night will be filled with events and experiences of all shapes and sizes from the early evening until the small hours. Discover what’s going on just around the corner - in the city’s parks, streets and squares. The next Night of the Arts is on 27 August 2010.

Image©Terjo Aaltonen

Back in 1994 Kainuu, a region in northeast Finland, paid a visit to Helsinki, presenting itself to local residents and tourists in Senate Square. This year the City of Helsinki is repaying the visit. The pro-gramme in Kainuu ranges from puppet shows to business seminars and from chamber music concerts inspired by the sea to nostalgic dances. The Finnish capital will promote itself in Kainuu throughout the year under the theme “The People of Helsinki Today – Meetings in Kainuu”. The aim is create new and lasting contacts between the only Finnish metropolis and Kainuu, a region of immense natural beauty and resources.

Events for people of all ages

The programme in Kainuu offers something for children and adults alike. The 1300 pupils at elementary schools in Kainuu worked throughout the autumn to create props for the puppet show. Adults in turn will be treated in May to nostalgic dances to the music of Pirkko Mannola and Lasse Liemola at Naapurinvaara in Sotkamo. In addi-tion, Kajaani Poetry Week, the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival and the Sommelo Folk Music Festival will feature expanded programmes connected with the Helsinki theme. Kainuu residents will also get to enjoy special art exhibitions and films, as well as Helsinki cuisine served by top chef Jyrky Sukula.

Main events in August (12-15.8.2010)

The Helsinki theme year culminates in August. Representatives of business and industry in Helsinki and Kainuu gather at a special seminar in Kuhmo on 12 August. Helsinki City Council will also visit Kainuu on 11-13 August to attend the business seminar and learn more about Kainuu’s regional model. Helsinki’s decision-makers will also get to admire the scenery in Kainuu from atop the Vuokatti Ridge. Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen will deliver the ceremonial speech at Kainuu’s traditional regional celebrations on 14 August. The celebrations will also feature a performance by the same Guards Band that performs annually at Finland’s Independence Day Reception at the President’s Castle in Helsinki. The main event at Kajaani Hall on 15 August will feature performances by the UMO Jazz Orchestra and the singing group Rajaton.

The programme for the theme year will be updated regularly on the Kainuu Region website where you can enter by pressing the button below.