Try GOLD - Free

A real Hel praiser

The Sunday Mirror

|

September 14, 2025

Finn fan Sarah Marshall finds Helsinki one exciting city break

alk about blast from one past.

Here I was at a heaving festival in Helsinki, listening to trumpet player Jukka Eskola, who was transporting me back 20 years.

Back then, his band, The Five Corners Quintet, had brought 60s-inspired jazz to a tiny new festival called Flow. Held in the industrial outskirts of Finland's capital, it attracted a niche crowd of music fans ~and I was one of them.

Flow has now grown to be one of the biggest events in Finland's summer calendar, held over three days in August in the grounds of the defunct Suvilahti power plant, attracting more than 90,000 people. This year's headliners included Charli XCX and Kneecap - but it was the Five Comers Quintet reunion gig that excited me, and did not let me down.

I've visited Helsinki countless times, developing a fondness for its food, culture, nature and design and T've watched it grow into one of Europes most exciting capitals.

And it has aged well. Bars have sprung up in abandoned buildings, exciting new restaurants like The Room By Kozeen Shiwan have earned Michelin stars, and a deeply embedded sauna culture has sparked a global wellbeing craze.

This is still a city where anarchists defy police by building free-to-enter bathhouses out of disused building materials and businesses prefer to please everyday people rather than shareholders. A changing climate is also having an impact.

MORE STORIES FROM The Sunday Mirror

The Sunday Mirror

Jake showed he was the DADDY

O'BRIEN'S 'HECTIC' WEEKEND AFTER SON'S BIRTH IS FOLLOWED UP WITH HISTORIC WIN AT EVERTON'S NEW STADIIIM

time to read

2 mins

October 05, 2025

The Sunday Mirror

PHEW LITTLE BEAUTY!

Benjamin's bang on the button to gain boss Amorim more time ...but United chief's 50-game report still makes ugly reading

time to read

3 mins

October 05, 2025

The Sunday Mirror

The Sunday Mirror

SLOWLY DOES IT

Let your slow cooker do the work to create these delicious dishes

time to read

4 mins

October 05, 2025

The Sunday Mirror

SORE ED SHEERAN

Superstar's really on song when he's got a hangover

time to read

1 mins

October 05, 2025

The Sunday Mirror

The Sunday Mirror

WE STAND UNITED

Terror survivors send message of unity after killings

time to read

1 min

October 05, 2025

The Sunday Mirror

We were half way there....

Book charts how legend lived on a prayer of fame

time to read

1 min

October 05, 2025

The Sunday Mirror

The Sunday Mirror

'OUR FAMILY'S COMPLETE WE COULDN'T BE HAPPIER'

Following a “whirlwind” time, Alex and Olivia Bowen invite us into their home to meet their beautiful baby daughter, Siena

time to read

5 mins

October 05, 2025

The Sunday Mirror

The Sunday Mirror

CELEBS BACK BAN ON TROPHY HUNTS

Showbiz stars sign letter to the government demanding action

time to read

2 mins

October 05, 2025

The Sunday Mirror

The Sunday Mirror

Cancer has affected so many of our family... they will find a cure for it

As she marks five years in remission with a visit to the prestigious Toby Robins Research Centre, singer Anne Nolan insists we should all have hope

time to read

5 mins

October 05, 2025

The Sunday Mirror

The Sunday Mirror

It's all so Nam good

Simon Green laps up five-star luxury in a land renowned for backpacker tourists

time to read

5 mins

October 05, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size