Have some tippaleipä

Vappu is one of the biggest celebrations in Finland. And of course every celebration call for its culinary specialty.

Around May 1 Finns traditionally eat the so called Tippaleipä. It is made of spaghetti shaped dough from flour, egg, sugar, lemon, salt and spices and deep fried in oil.

Tippaleipä is sold in shops everywhere in Finland at the moment. Go and get some as long as the shops are still open.

And don’t forget to head to Havis Amanda at Kauppatori around six today to watch Mantan Lakitu, the official beginning on Vappu.

Hauskaa vappua!

No parking for clean streets

The city is been cleaned from all the small stones and dust that is left over from the winter. And of course the street has to be completely empty during that time. 

So be careful where you park your car these days. Always check the beginning of the street for those signs first. 

Normally the non parking signs just apply for one day for a few hours. It might differ though so pay close attention. Otherwise your car has to be moved.

Bright nights

The days are already quite long again. Yesterday night at 22:00 it was still that bright. 

Welcome back to Linnanmäki!

The long winter break is over. Today at 13:00 Linnanmäki, Helsinki’s big amusement park finally opens its gate again for the new season.

And as every year there is of course a new attraction is awaiting Linnanmäki’s visitors. The haunted house has been completely renovated and is now the Kyöpelinvuoren Hotelli which was planned by the English designer Nick Farmer.

But the rides are not the only thing that makes Linnanmäki worth a visit. The amusement park again invited lots of artists for this season to play on Linnanmäki’s Estradi stage. The opening show tonight features the boy band Satin Circus, Krista Siegfrids, who will represent Finland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö and the kids heavy metal band Hevisaurus playing on Saturday and Haloo Helsinki on Sunday. Both concerts start at 18:00 and are for free.

Have a great time at Linnanmäki!

Espoo has all that April Jazz

Jazz fans should be in Espoo this weekend where April Jazz takes place for the 27^th time. The festival with lots of amazing jazz artists already started on Wednesday. But lots of good music is still to come during the weekend. The concerts take place around Tapiola Kauppakeskus.

On the official website you find an overview of what is awaiting you on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Tickets for the main events can be bought online or ticket outlets around Finland.

You don’t want to pay anything extra? Then come to the free gigs at Live Jazz @ Café Mezzo or Jatkojamit.

Have a great jazzy weekend!

Esplanadi in 360°

You might know this perspective from several pictures on HelsinkiIn showing Esplanadi once per month for one year. Here is now a 360° view of the place.

You can find all the pictures of Esplanadi from last year here.

Discover the treasures of Helsinki

There are so many interesting small shops and boutiques in Helsinki. And there are so many of them we pass every day without even taking a closer look at them.

To draw more attention to the small businesses the City of Helsinki and Helsingin Yrittäjät arranged “Pop in a Shop”(Poikkea Putiikissa). Till Saturday (27.04.) special events and offers are awaiting interested visitors at more than a hundred participatingshops everywhere in Helsinki. 

Take a look at the program, find out whichshops are closest to you and drop by. They’d be happy to welcome you.