Flow Festival gathered both domestic and international top artists in Helsinki’s Suvilahti. The sold-out festival gathered a record number of 90,000 participants to enjoy the unique atmosphere during the three festival days.
Main stage:
The main stage of Flow Festival was located in the heart of the festival area, where most of the main artists performed. On Friday, a Finnish singer-songwriter of the new generation Antti Autio opened the Main Stage together with a string band. Scandipop star Sigrid took the stage a few hours later.
Over the course of the weekend, the Flow Main Stage hosted stellar performances from artists such as Afropop superstar. Burna boyanimated group Gorillaz at their first performance in Finland, charming Florence + machineas well as domestic favourites Vesala and Vesta. Named after a Finnish cell phone, a rapper from New York Princess Nokia pumped the stage full of energy and excitement.
One of Finland’s most respected pop artists Chisu performed his final Flow Festival gig on Sunday, putting his solo career on hold at the end of this year.
Flow Festival’s Sunday Main Stage saw a phenomenal Michael Kiwanuka and charismatic Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds charms the audience with his two-hour set.
Lapin Kulta Pure Red Arena:
| Jamie xx at the Red Arena, written by Lapin Kulta Pure on Saturday 12 August 2022 (C) Konstantin Kondrukhov |
The huge marquee stage, Red Arena, was filled with headliners and a darker atmosphere. Red Arena presented an experimental British rock band, because there are no genres left undiscovered Black MidiAmerican hip hop artist GoldLink and Grammy-nominated electronic music producer Jamie xx.
The stage hosted the long-awaited performance of the legendary punk band The bikini killsan amazing show by an anarchist pop star MØand wonderful Fred again..which led the audience from wild dances to vulnerable moments.
ILMINEN.fi Black tent:
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| Donny Benét, The Black Tent Sunday 12 August 2022 (C) Konstantin Kondrukhov |
FREE.fi Black Tent was heavy for domestic artists, and really a gem at the Flow venue.
FREE.fi in the Black Tent Lottery, Yes, Fontaines DCand Holly Humberstone were crowd favorites. Acid Arab closed the venue with a pounding live set.
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| Coco Ninja & Iconic House of Ninja at Red Garden Friday 12 August 2022 (C) Kiril Juha Kainulainen |
In addition to the big stages, it was not difficult to find unique music and a dancing audience. The Red Garden and Resident Advisor Front Yard will be celebrating all weekend with amazing energy from DJs, dancers and the crowd.
DJ and club music lovers will enjoy world-class spinners, such as DJ Koze, Uncle Waffles, Giant Swan, Antaland Jayda G Resident Advisor in Front Yard, Backyard and Red Garden.
In The Other Sound x Sun Effects, Whoretron deconstructed and The Ánnámárs packed the place to its maximum capacity. Balloon in a 360° magical atmosphere, wonderful Linda Fredriksson Juniperdazzling Alexandraand virtuoso Mdou Moctar played to the spellbound audience.
Art was again an integral part of the Flow experience. The amazing Tiilikello x Polestar art space opened the doors to the public to the recently renovated old gas meter in Suvilahti. Hanna Vihriäläimpressive installation, Blowing Flowerand Antti Tolvin meditative sound and light work Butterfly effect invited visitors to stop in the midst of the festival hubbub. Adel Abidinn thought-provoking video installation A musical manifesto attracted people to immerse themselves in the work throughout the festival weekend.
Flow Festival’s diverse food selection included fine dining restaurants, street food inspired by countries around the world, and guaranteed festival favorites. This year, Flow continued its pioneering work towards more sustainable festival production by removing red meat and poultry from the menus. In addition, the beverage selection focused on quality wines, microbrewery products and versatile non-alcoholic beverage options.
This year, the festival also put together the Flow Talks program. On Friday, Flow hosted a panel discussion with Music Finland and six other music industry organizations on promoting a stronger and more international music industry. The prime minister of Finland was also among the panelists Sanna MarinMinister of the Environment and Climate Change Maria Ohisaloand chairman of the Kokoumus parliamentary group Kai Mykkänen, among others. In addition, Flow organized a Sustainable Meal panel on Sunday, where the jury chose the most sustainable and delicious food from Flow’s restaurants. The public’s favorite Sustainable Meal was also chosen by public vote. The jury chose LoiLo’s Tofu Okonomiyaki as the winner, and the crowd’s favorite was Common Roach & Potatoes from The Glass. The jury of the Sustainable Meal panel consisted of a Member of Parliament Emma Karifood writer and chef Meri-Tuuli Väntsiand the head chef of restaurant Grön Janne Keskevaari.
The Finnish public broadcasting company Yle and the French-German broadcasting company Arte have recorded programs and atmosphere in Flow during the weekend. Some of the recordings have been live broadcasts, but some of them can be viewed at Yle Areena. Recordings from the destination Gorillaz, Burna boy, UMO & Jimi Tenor, Kit Sebastian, Vesta, Freddie Gibbs, Sigridand soft toy can be viewed here.
Flow Festival will take place in Suvilahti, Helsinki, on August 11-13, 2023. A limited number of Super Early Bird tickets for 2023 went on sale on Monday 15 August at 9am and can be purchased at: here until Sunday, August 21.
HT – Tara Kuros
Source: The Nordic Page