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Helsinki Festival
The massive Helsinki Festival is designed to showcase Finnish and international performing and creative arts, drawing about 300,000 people every year to enjoy a full program of classical and contemporary music, dance, theater, popular and world music, cinema, and art exhibitions. The festival, founded in 1968, takes place in a unique tented venue in the city center. One of the most popular aspects of the festival is the Night of Arts when the city streets, parks, churches and galleries are given over to dance groups, orchestral groups and buskers. The festival also features a Children's Festival.
Venue: The Huvila Festival Tent at Hakaniemi, opposite the Helsinki City Theater
Date: August 2009 TBA
Website: www.helsinkifestival.fi

May Day (Vappu)
Finns know how to have fun, and when they party they do so seriously. The best party of the year in Helsinki, particularly for students, is the May Day celebration. Although neighborhoods throughout the city celebrate to herald the arrival of spring in their own way, the main event takes place in Market Square and along the Esplanade, where crowds gather in the early evening of 30 April (Walpurgis Night) to watch the statue of Havis Amanda adorned with a white cap. Champagne is sprayed over the mermaid statue, launching the festivities, which take the form of an exuberant street party continuing well into the night. For more information contact the Helsinki City Tourist and Convention Bureau (0)9 169 3757.
Venue: Market Square
Date: 30 April to 1 May, annually

Helsinki City Marathon
Finland's popular annual Marathon event attracts thousands of runners from around the world, most probably because the race follows a particularly scenic course along the coastline in and around Helsinki.
Venue: The marathon starts and ends at the Olympic Stadium
Date: 15 August 2009
Time: 3pm
Website: www.helsinkicitymarathon.com

Helsinki Baltic Herring Fair
Helsinki's oldest traditional event is dedicated to the humble herring, Scandinavian staple, which has been sold and eaten at the end of the fishing season each year at a fishy fair in the city's Market Square for about 200 years. Visitors are astounded at the number of different ways this delicacy is served up. Try it salted, pickled or marinated, on the spot or to take away.
Venue: Market Square
Date: 4 - 10 October 2009

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