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  • Oulu in November 2026: The European Capital of Culture Fills with Light and Art

    Oulu in November 2026: The European Capital of Culture Fills with Light and Art

    *Ad / in collaboration with Oulu, European Capital of Culture

    In Oulu, November’s darkness makes way for light, sound and new artistic experiences. As a European Capital of Culture in 2026, the city invites visitors to discover northern culture and international art. One of the highlights of the autumn is the new Lumo Art & Tech, a ten-day international festival of art and technology bringing exhibitions, installations and events to venues across Oulu, Finland.

    During the festival’s final days, the Lumo Light Festival invites visitors outdoors to experience the city through light art.

    Oulu is a European Capital of Culture in 2026

    Oulu’s year as a European Capital of Culture in 2026 extends beyond the city itself, with 39 other municipalities in northern Finland taking part. For travellers, this offers an opportunity to combine urban culture with visits to other northern destinations.

    The guiding theme of the year is Cultural Climate Change, which aims to enrich cultural life, bring people together and inspire new ways of thinking and creating. The ambition is to make a lasting impact that continues beyond the year itself.

    In Oulu, the meeting of art and technology takes tangible form in November’s festival programme.

    Lumo Art & Tech brings art and technology together

    Lumo Art & Tech takes place from 13 to 22 November 2026. The ten-day international festival brings together light art, sound art and digital art. Events are spread across several venues, including Tarkastamo and the VISIO immersive space at Tiima Museum and Science Centre.

    A visit to the festival can easily be combined with exploring the city. When planning your trip, however, keep the different event dates in mind: the Lumo Light Festival is part of the wider Art & Tech programme and takes place during its final four days.

    Lumo Light Festival illuminates Oulu from 19 to 22 November 2026

    Organised by the City of Oulu, the Lumo Light Festival is free and open to everyone. The light installations can be viewed from 19 to 22 November, daily from 4 pm to 10 pm.

    The programme for the European Capital of Culture year features around 30 works. The approximately six-kilometre festival route leads from the city centre through the Hupisaaret Islands to Tiima Museum and Science Centre, Linnansaari and the Market Square, continuing onwards to Pikisaari. You can join the route at various points, so there is no need to see everything in one go.

    As the festival returns to the waterfront by the Market Square, its installations include Abstract by the French group Collectif Coin. Meanwhile, Jere Suontausta’s Reason is projected onto the wall of Oulu Theatre, enlarging an element filmed through a microscope to the scale of the building’s façade.

    Lumo gives a November city a natural rhythm: exhibitions during the day, followed by light art outdoors in the evening. You can divide the longer route between two evenings, allowing time to warm up and enjoy a meal along the way. As light art draws attention to illumination, surfaces and the surrounding darkness, familiar buildings and parks can reveal an entirely new side.

    Björk’s exhibition continues until the end of 2026

    Lumo Art & Tech also brings an audiovisual exhibition by Icelandic artist Björk to Oulu. On display at the Pekuri shopping quarter from 13 November to 31 December 2026, the exhibition combines music, moving images, visual art and technology.

    The works Ancestress and Sorrowful Soil were created as tributes to Björk’s mother. The third part, Björk Orkestral, can be experienced in an immersive listening room created by Genelec.

    As the exhibition continues until the end of December, it can also be included in a later trip to Oulu.

    A November cultural trip to Oulu

    Choose the dates of your November cultural trip according to what you would like to see. Lumo Art & Tech begins on 13 November, but to experience the Lumo Light Festival itself, plan your visit for 19–22 November.

    The light festival is free. Admission fees and opening hours for exhibitions and events in the wider Art & Tech programme should be checked separately in the festival programme.

    In Oulu, November’s darkness becomes part of the cultural experience. Indoor exhibitions and evening light installations offer different ways to discover the city — and a good reason to stay for several days.

    Take a cultural trip to Finland!

    Featured image: press photograph by Tero Suutari.

    Read this article in Finnish at indivue.fi

  • New Bridge Kruunuvuorensilta in Helsinki and the First Trams + Video

    New Bridge Kruunuvuorensilta in Helsinki and the First Trams + Video

    The construction work making Hakaniemi look so untidy certainly seemed to go on forever. After all the building sites, diversions and unfinished streets, I had been eagerly waiting to enjoy the results. And now we finally can: tram services across Kruunuvuorensilta Bridge began two days ago, on Saturday, 7 November 2026. This new connection brings Korkeasaari ZOO and Kruunuvuorenranta closer to central Helsinki in a whole new way.

    It also opens up a new scenic route through Helsinki. Through the tram window, you can watch the sea and the city’s waterfront as you travel from one neighbourhood to another. The views alone make this journey worth taking.

    Watch my attached video, filmed during the day and evening of 7 November 2026, when tram services across Kruunuvuorensilta Bridge were launched!

    A tram ride across Kruunuvuorensilta Bridge

    Getting from Helsinki Center to Korkeasaari ZOO Is Now Easy

    One of the most practical benefits of the new connection is that you can now take a tram directly from Helsinki center and Hakaniemi to Korkeasaari. Tram 12 runs from Rautatientori, Helsinki’s Railway Square, via Hakaniemi and Korkeasaari to Yliskylä in Laajasalo. A visit to Korkeasaari ZOO can therefore be easily combined with a scenic ride across the new bridge.

    For many people, Hakaniemi is a convenient starting point for a tram ride to Korkeasaari, replacing a ferry trip and the wait for departure.

    Kruunuvuorensilta Bridge connects Palosaari, on the Korkeasaari side, with Kruunuvuorenranta. The bridge was built for trams, pedestrians and cyclists. There are no lanes for cars.

    What makes the crossing particularly impressive is the maritime setting: the views open up around you, revealing Helsinki from a perspective that will still be new to many visitors. An ordinary journey on public transport becomes a little sightseeing trip.

    In my video, we travel from Kruunuvuorenranta via Korkeasaari to Hakaniemi in daylight, then make the return journey from Hakaniemi to Kruunuvuorenranta after dark. You can experience the same route in two different lights and see how beautifully the city lights shine across the water towards Kruunuvuorenranta.

    Long Daylight Pavilion after dark
    Long Daylight Pavilion after dark

    A Trip to Kruunuvuorenranta for Light Art

    The new connection is also a good reason to explore Kruunuvuorenranta. Combine your tram ride with a waterfront walk and stop to admire Kruunuvuorensilta Bridge from the shore. Travelling across the bridge and seeing it as part of the seascape are two different experiences that are well worth including in the same photography outing.

    Kruunuvuorenranta is also home to Olafur Eliasson’s Long Daylight Pavilion. Follow the link attached to watch my video from the day this work by the Icelandic artist was inaugurated. Located on Wiirinkallio, the light installation consists of 24 steel columns whose heights trace the sun’s path across Helsinki’s sky on the longest day of the year. After dark, lights shining from the tops of the columns form a ring following that path.

    In late autumn, you could time your visit to enjoy the bridge views in daylight, then stay in Kruunuvuorenranta as dusk falls. That way, you can experience both maritime Helsinki and light art on the same outing. And who knows — perhaps some lovely restaurants will eventually find their way to the waterfront, too. For now, there is at least a K-Market grocery shop and a couple of tables outside it, by the terminus of bus 87. The ferry connection to the waterfront beside Katajanokka will also continue for a few more months!

    Watch my music video of a tram ride across Kruunuvuorensilta Bridge!

    Read and subscribe to my guide, INDIVUE – Trip to Helsinki, for travel inspiration for your Helsinki adventures!

    Read this article also in Finnish