Helsinki, like the rest of Finland, is beginning to gradually open up after the Coronavirus pandemic, and we are happy to be able to present the Etno-Espa concert series in the middle of the Helsinki summer season.

This year’s Etno-Espa is shorter in duration than usual, with all concerts presented at the original event venue, the Espa Stage, between Monday and Sunday. The area around the stage will be configured according to the safety directives at the time of the event, and we ask you to check the event’s Facebook page prior to arriving at the venue.

Despite the special circumstances, Etno-Espa will present an impressive array of contemporary folk music gems during August afternoons. Some of the highlights of the program include the internationally esteemed accordionist Johanna Juhola’s Fantasiatango concert and the riveting skiffle tunes of the ensemble Juurakko, recent recipients of an Ethnogala award. Soundtracks of Helsinki, a program presented by the haapoja & illmari collective, leads the audiences on a tour of the secret spaces in our capital, while Lehtojärven Hirvenpää takes their listeners to Lapland to dance a tango drawn from the nonsense of the universe. The music of Sakari Kukko Afro Chamber draws both from the classical griot tradition of West Africa and from Finnish classical and folk music. The Sámi singer Hildá Länsman, paired with Tuomas Norvio, will evoke Sámi moods and soundscapes. On Children’s Saturday, the whole family gets to dance to the music of the duo Soiva Siili and the ensemble Arabic Twist.

See you – from a safe distance – in August at the Etno-Espa park concerts!