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Helsinki — While summer urban festivals are increasingly held outside the immediate city center, this week brings an exception. First organized last year, the multidisciplinary ODDfest returns to the heart of Helsinki this week as an even larger, more comprehensive event. The three-part festival will spread across several iconic venues in the city center, including the Lasipalatsi Square, Bio Rex Lasipalatsi, Tavastia, the Kamppi Chapel, and the Old Student House (Vanha Ylioppilastalo).
ODDfest returns to central Helsinki, bringing along a lineup of international-caliber creators. This year, ODDfest expands from a single festival into a three-part event series. It includes ODDfest (June 12–13), a festival celebrating creative fields; ODDference (June 11–12), a conference bridging creative expertise with the business world; and Creative Week (June 8–14), an open-to-all urban festival offering a diverse creative program throughout the entire week.
“At the core of this event series is still building bridges between the creative economy, business, and society, harnessing the true growth potential of creative industries, and putting Helsinki and Finnish creative expertise on the global map. However, we have updated the format to better serve these goals. Of course, we are also still celebrating everything creative, unconventional, and progressive,” states ODDfest founder Ronny Eriksson.
Last year’s main event area, Lasipalatsi Square, will now also open publicly to audiences, and ODDfest is expanding to several iconic venues in the heart of Helsinki, such as Bio Rex Lasipalatsi, Tavastia, Semifinal, the Kamppi Chapel, and the Old Student House.
Business and the Creative Industries Needed a Meeting Place
Built in just six months in the spring of last year, the inaugural ODDfest underscored the event’s significance. A successful debut in June 2025 drew a total of 2,600 visitors, gathered a dedicated volunteer force of over a hundred people, and generated interest in more than 20 countries.
ODDfest Performers: Grammy-nominated R&B-soul singer-songwriter Valerie June (US), cult-favorite psychedelic rock artist Föllakzoid (CL), Finnish rap artist backed by harps Paleface & Harput, the Kuopio-based Jazz-Femma-awarded experimental trio VIRTA, producer-artist MISHA who has worked with multiple Grammy winners, alternative indie sister duo Sarah Julia (NL), and many others.
ODDfest Speakers: Chief Creative Officer Luke Dorman and Lead Visual Designer Marley Prudeaux from the American multimedia experience company Meow Wolf (US), and many more.
Meanwhile, the speaker lineup for the ODDference conference—geared specifically toward corporate executives and decision-makers—includes Galit Ariel (CA), Perttu Pölönen, Tunna Milonoff, Esa Saarinen, Claus Raasted (DK), Samppa Lappalainen, Karoliina Korppoo, Siamäk Naghian, Alf Rehn, and Sonya Lindfors.
Multidisciplinary by Default
ODDfest explores contemporary creativity through four interconnected forms — Sound, Screen, Body, and Form — which continuously overlap, collide and blend throughout the program.
Sound — live music, DJ culture, spoken word and sonic experimentation.
Screen — film, audiovisual art, XR, gaming and digital storytelling.
Body — dance, circus, participatory performances and embodied experiences.
Form — visual art, fashion, installations and spatial design.
