Helsinki Festival Night of the Arts on Friday

Finland-Sweden athletics meet adds to programme

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A quick heads up for readers that tomorrow, Friday 27th, sees the 22nd holding of the traditional "Night of the Arts" as part of the Helsinki Festival. The format is the same as before, a cultural smörgåsbord of more than 200 events, most of them free, all over town, and not just in the downtown area but spreading out into the suburbs.
      This year's Night of the Arts does not culminate in one big spectacle like last year, when a French circus troupe captivated audiences with their giant helium balloons, but the organisers have sought to spread the energy around more equally.
     
Tomorrow night will actually be a bit of a double whammy in the capital, as this weekend also sees the annual Finland-Sweden athletics meet, which will be drawing thousands to the Olympic Stadium on Friday evening and on Saturday.
      This two-day track and field competition is one of the very few remaining old-time "internationals" in a sport that has increasingly been taken over by star-studded Golden League (and now Diamond League) events.
     
The best way of finding something to take your fancy is to use the Night of the Arts website, which has full listings of what is on and where.
      The organisers nevertheless gently warn against making a rigid timetable: just go with the flow and "let the events lead you - take time to wander and wonder".
     
Two or three things that are worth remembering are that if the weather is half-decent there will be thousands upon thousands of people milling around in the city centre, it is possible that not all of them will be completely sober, and there will be some changes to local bus, tram, Metro and train services.
      On this last point, the good news is that the changes are mostly in the form of additional departures to get you home when its all over, but there may also be route changes in the downtown area for some buses and trams.
      The Helsinki Regional transport and Finnish Railways sites linked below give details, although at this stage only in Finnish.
     
Enjoy!
     
     
The Night of the Arts is organised in partnership with Helsingin Sanomat


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Night of the Arts draws 35,000 to Senate Square concert (25.8.2008)

Links:
  Helsinki Festival: Night of the Arts
  Night of the Arts Programme
  Helsinki Region Transport (details of additional services on 27.8., in Finnish)
  VR, Finnish Railways (additional commuter-train services on 27.8., in Finnish)

Helsingin Sanomat