News -page consists of current topics and interesting articles about jazz in Finland.
The Lappeenranta Jazz club, which closed down last year (2025), has now been succeeded by a new LPR JAZZ for the fall and spring seasons 2026-2027, founded and produced by the pianist-composer Aurora Hentunen. The club's concerts are located at Café Satamatie 6 in Linnoitus, Lappeenranta.
The Archipelago Sea Jazz festival series continues in the world's most beautiful archipelago! At Korpo Sea Jazz, outstanding music, breathtaking nature and a warm atmosphere come together in a truly unique setting. Later this summer, the journey continues in Turku and Mariehamn with international stars, historic concert venues and unforgettable maritime experiences. Explore the programme and secure your tickets at www.tiketti.fi/archipelagoseajazz. When purchasing tickets, you can also make a donation to John Nurminen Foundation in support of its important work to protect the marine environment.
Fest Afrika will spread across Tampere from July 28 to August 2, celebrating African culture and music. This year marks the festival’s 25th anniversary, and as usual the programme is diverse, featuring afrojazz, a vibrant community market atmosphere, and workshops. New venues and a free, family-friendly programme make the festival accessible to an even wider audience.
The 37th edition of the Raahen Rantajatsit festival will take place on 23–25 July. This year, Rantajatsit celebrates not only the 100-year history of Finnish jazz, but also Oulu's European Capital of Culture year. As part of the official Oulu2026 programme, the festival has the opportunity to bring both sustainable and more unconventional ideas to life.
Pori Jazz has selected bassist, composer, and bandleader Kaisa Mäensivu as its Artist of the Year 2026. Her own band, Kaisa’s Machine, performs at festivals and clubs around the world. In addition to leading her own groups, Mäensivu has appeared alongside some of jazz’s most acclaimed artists, including guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, pianist Dave Kikoski, and trumpeter Tim Hagans.
The Odysseus Festival, dedicated to adventurous music, will be experienced this summer in a new format in Helsinki’s Torikorttelit district on July 15–17. Over the course of three evenings, music will be heard at free events held on three different summer terraces. The event is produced in collaboration by We Jazz and Helsingin Kaupunkitilat.
The band 100 – Mäkynen/Mannila/Koivistoinen/Antila/Mäensivu, led by drummer Teppo Mäkynen, will perform in 12 cities across Finland. Come and enjoy jazz with the whole family!
Summer at Alppipuisto once again offers communal and relaxed urban culture – six events that bring funk, punk, folk music, afro, psytrance, and rock to the park’s lawns. Each event adds its own colour to the summer at Alppipuisto and invites visitors to become part of a celebration of cultures, rhythms, and people.
Sointien Kalasatama, organized by the Sointi Jazz Orchestra, is a new free urban culture event series that brings jazz music, participatory poetry events, and multisensory experiences to public spaces in Kalasatama during July–August 2026. The event culminates on 29 August in a spectacular jazz parade and a family park concert.
I have been simultaneously fascinated and amused by the story of the arrival of the ship Andania which brought jazz from New York to Helsinki on the 4th of June 1926. It paints an irresistible picture: the restless optimism permeating the capital of the nation still recovering from a civil war, the smell of the sea and coal, the metallic rumbling of trams, and in the harbour, men in their white straw hats stopping in amazement by the steam ship to witness the unloading of a gigantic wooden crate from where worldly and carefree American Finns emerge, blowing out a swinging tune, a wondrous sound of the free new world.
