The 2026 festival programme has been released!

Welcome to the Centre of Europe!

This year, Oulu rightfully stands at the heart of European cultural life. The Oulunsalo Soi festival programme explores, in a systematic way, all the countries that make up our continent — it’s time to start collecting stamps in your passport! We won’t quite make it to every country, and some regions will be covered in broader strokes, but I’m confident the journey will be an enjoyable one. In the spirit of EcoCompass, we favour rail travel — and soon you’ll be able to travel from Oulu to Sweden and onward to continental Europe, right?

As our guides, I’ve invited a sharp lineup of leading artists from Finland and abroad. The vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices is a nearly genre-defying group of versatile performers, and we’ll enjoy them in two concerts. Another hard-to-categorize group is Red Nose Company, whose performances always prepare you for bursts of laughter — though their new piece centres on Jean Sibelius’s fear of death, so a few tears may fall as well. Actor-singer Vuokko Hovatta will delight us by reflecting on her relationship with Sweden (and the Swedish language), as our beloved neighbouring country is honoured with an entire concert. The true workhorse of the festival is my own string quartet, Meta4, from whom every last ounce will be drawn.

Fasten your seatbelts — our journey begins soon!