In August, there were a few 'sneak-preview' events staged under the Helsinki Festival umbrella, including concerts by classical pianist Evgeny Kissin and Brazilian singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso as well as mid-August's urban-music extravaganza, the Flow Festival.
And the ' Art Goes Kapakka' sub-festival began on August 19 for the 15th time. It launched with 83 choirs -- including more than 1600 singers -- appearing at Senate Square before heading off to various bars and restaurants around town.
The 15th art-in-the-pubs series included 319 art and culinary events at 34 pubs and eateries, mostly free of charge.
The main Helsinki Festival programme began with free events including outdoor movies at Glass Palace Square. The first night's film was a documentary about Staff Benda Bilili, a band of street musicians from Kinshasa -- who performed live on August 25 at the Huvila Tent on Tokoinranta near Hakaniemi.
There were also screenings of films by Isaac Julien of the UK, Luchino Visconti of Italy and comic genius Jacques Tati of France.
For the first time in the festival's 42-year history, it featured an Opening Club. The evening at Helsinki University's Old Student Hall featured British chill-out DJ/producer Bonobo with a five-member band and vocalist, as well as the Icelandic-Finnish band Kira Kira, the Avanti! chamber orchestra and the Pink Twins, a pair of brothers from Helsinki.
The latter also performed at this year's last Huvila show on Sunday, September 5. They are opened for Belgian contemporary music ensemble Ictus, who performed a tribute to New York minimalist composer Steve Reich.
Lighter Sounds in a Tent
While much of the festival programme was devoted to classical music, dance, literature and other 'serious' art, the Huvila concert series offered a lively array of pop, rock, folk, jazz and world music.
The line-up included Canada's Martha Wainwright, Cape Verde's Mayra Andrade, the German-Romanian DJ Shantel, and British-African trio The Very Best, as well as domestic stars such as pop singer-songwriter Chisu and avant-garde accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen. Opening acts included home-grown bands such as Kaustinen fiddlers Frigg and Maria Gasolina, which performs breezy covers of Brazilian pop classics in Finnish.
Poetry, Electronic Art and a City-Wide Party
Other sub-festivals included the Runokuu poetry series (Aug 26-Sep 1), the Viapori Jazz concerts featuring Finnish artists in the old fortress on Suomenlinna (Aug 25-28) and Media Facades, part of a nebulous EU-wide digital project, which started on Aug. 27.
The festival's best-known and best-attended event was the Night of the Arts, held on August 27 with hundreds of events -- again mostly free -- throughout the metropolitan region into the wee hours.
