Helsinki's creative week, bringing cultural and creative scenes together.
One shared week, made across Helsinki.
ODDfest brings independently made events across Helsinki into one shared creative week.
Artists, collectives, venues, organisations and companies make their own events — from exhibitions and performances to workshops, dinners, club nights and formats nobody has tried yet.
You make the event.
You shape and produce it in your own way.
ODD builds the week.
We connect the events through one programme, identity and shared visibility.
Start with what you do best
An exhibition, a performance, a workshop, a screening, a dinner, an open studio, a club night, a conversation — or a format nobody has tried yet. If it belongs in Helsinki's creative life, it belongs in the week.
Tell us about it
It does not have to be finished, funded or scheduled. We want to know what you are making, roughly where and when it could happen, how far along it is, and whether there is anything you are still looking for.
Build it your way
You shape and produce your event. Where useful, we can help connect you with other hosts, venues, partners or resources. Tell us what would make the biggest difference and we'll be clear about what we can help with.
Join the shared week
Your event is connected to the ODDfest identity, the public programme and the communications around the week. For a few days, independent work across Helsinki becomes easier to find as one whole.
Bring something to ODDfest 2027.
ODDfest 2027 runs 19–25 April. We are collecting event ideas now, while the programme is still taking shape — which is the best moment to bring one. Tell us what you want to make happen, where you are with it, and what kind of connections or support would actually be useful.
An idea still at the notes-on-your-phone stage is a fine thing to send. Sending it commits you to nothing, and we would far rather hear it early than hear it finished and too late.
Your idea is in, reference . Thank you.
We are collecting ideas for ODDfest 2027 now.
One week. Many hosts.
In 2026, Creative Week brought more than 1,000 people to partner events across Helsinki, while ODDfest brought more than 150 acts to five venues. A few highlights from both — each one made with someone else.
ODDtheatre
With more than ten collectivesClub Theatre took over the main hall: dancers, DJs, actors, models and visual artists building one night in real time, directed by Tyre. Among them the House of Xclusive Lanvin, contemporary circus group Nuua, our beloved ODDlings and Maryisonacid.
Creative x Tech: Ecosystem Convergence
With Junction and Maria 01Founders, artists, hackers, designers, musicians and cultural operators in one room — people who usually build in separate circles. Talks, fireside chats and participatory programme opened the week.
Smell the Art
With Helsinki Perfume Club and Artishok.meAn exhibition for two senses: artworks paired with chosen fragrances, so scent could deepen, disrupt or extend what the eye saw. Created by Katia Los and Adriana Knispel.
Soirée of Serendipity
Curated by Vivian White Futures StudioAn invitation-only evening on the soul of tomorrow — what a good life in the future is made of. Around 300 leaders, entrepreneurs, artists and thinkers from business, culture and society.
Decoration, product or societal structure?
With Hanaholmen and Nordic Culture PointA public panel, in Swedish, on where culture's value lies as funding tightens — with voices from the Kordelin Foundation, Kulturanalys Norden, Way Out West and Espoo Theatre.
ODDgames
With Espoo Game LAB, Odd Latent and Super BarioODDgames transformed Tavastia into a multi-layered playground where games, creativity and new technology came together. Across two days, visitors explored indie games from Espoo Game LAB, experimented with AI-assisted vibe coding, experienced live game-making and creative sessions, and played together at Super Bario.
Creative Capital Gathering
With FiBAN and Joy for InnovationInvestors, foundations, funds and angels around one question: what does it really mean to invest in the creative industries? A conversation rather than a pitch session, with Solar Films founder Markus Selin and a Meow Wolf case among the speakers.
ODD Deep Space
With Simo Vassinen and 13 facilitatorsODD Deep Space transformed Kamppi Chapel into a dreamlike satellite where body, mind and urgent questions about the future came together through movement, sound and experimental formats. Across two days, visitors explored themes from work, wellbeing and money to AI, planetary limits and feminist futures, guided by artist and somatic facilitator Simo Vassinen and a diverse group of thinkers, movers and makers.
The point is not that these events look alike. It is that, for one week, they become easier to discover together.
Who has been part of it so far.
ODDfest 2025 and 2026 were made with artists, speakers, collectives and organisations like these.
- MusicValerie June (US) · Föllakzoid (CL) · Paleface & Avanti! · Stacy Epps (US) · Dominga (CL) · Kaukolampi · A. Blomqvist · Gone Future (SE) · Clavert · Electric Elisa · Heith (IT) · Lauer & DENA (DE)
- Performance & live artNuua Company · Ballroom Extravaganza · DanceWorks Helsinki · Q-teatteri · Espoo Theatre · Tyre
- Talks & ideasArthur C. Brooks (US) · Otto “YOTTO” Yliperttula · Salomé Daoudi (DK) · Juska “DJ Orion” Wendland · Pascal Fischer (DE) · Lotta Savolainen · Oki Tåg · Filip Hiltmann (SE) · Heidi Backman · Lottaliina Pokkinen
- Collectives & culture makersDocPoint · Bar25 — Days Out of Time (DE) · Indie Showcase · Aavistus · Uneton48 · Tanssin talo · Espoo Game LAB · Helsinki Film Lab
- PartnersGenelec · Marimekko · Holvi · Junction · Maria 01 · FiBAN · Amos Rex · Hanaholmen · Nordic Culture Point · Humak · Lassila & Tikanoja · Helsinki Film Lab · Innovestor · Radio Helsinki · Bonnier News · EIT Culture & Creativity
- Supported byCity of Helsinki · Finnish Cultural Foundation · Alfred Kordelin Foundation · Yksityisyrittäjäin Säätiö · Amos Anderson Foundation · Bo and Allan Hjelt Art Foundation
Watch the ODDfest 2026 aftermovie
Play the aftermovie · 1:31Want your event in the next one?
An exhibition, a club night, a talk, a dinner, an open studio — or a format nobody has tried yet. We are collecting ideas for 2027 now, and yours does not need to be finished.
Submit your eventPartner with ODDfest
A week made by hundreds of people needs partners behind it — organisations that want to back the week itself, reach the people in it, or build something of their own inside it. Tell us what you have in mind and we will work out whether there is a real fit.
Talk to us about partnering →Practical / FAQ
Do I need to be an established organisation to host something?
No. Artists, collectives, venues, companies, communities and people with no organisation behind them at all are all welcome to host. There is no track record you need to have and no size you need to be.
Is my event too small or too niche?
There is no minimum. A week made only of large events would miss the point of it. A one-room exhibition, a listening session for twenty people, or a workshop in your own studio are all the right size.
Does taking part cost anything?
The 2027 participation model is still being finalised. Before any host is asked to commit, we will publish clearly what is charged, if anything, what is included, and how any shared commercial arrangement works. Hosts keep control of their own event economics unless a separate agreement says otherwise.
Can my event be free, or ticketed?
Either. Hosts control their own ticketing unless a specific collaboration agreement says otherwise. There is no single central ODDfest ticket covering the distributed programme.
What if I don't have a space yet?
Tell us anyway. Events can happen in venues, studios, galleries, offices and public spaces across Helsinki. We cannot promise to find you a room, but if there is a match among other hosts, venues or partners we will make the introduction — and we would rather know what you are looking for early than hear about it too late.
What if my event is happening anyway, with or without ODDfest?
Then it is a good candidate. Joining the week does not change what your event is. It connects something already happening to a moment when more people are looking.
Will anyone actually come?
We cannot promise you an audience, and we would not trust anyone who did. What the week does is put your event into one programme alongside everything else happening those days, and spend the week telling people the whole thing is on — so your event is not the only reason someone has to be out that night.
When is ODDfest 2027?
19–25 April 2027, across Helsinki. The week comes together on Friday 23 April at Tanssin talo for ODDcelebration, on the second day of ODDference. The programme is still taking shape, so send your idea now.
Is ODDference part of ODDfest?
They are separate things that share a week. ODDference runs on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 April 2027 at Tanssin talo, in the middle of ODDfest week. It is ODD's own professional event, about what business and the rest of society can learn from creative expertise. It is produced centrally by ODD and has its own ticket. ODDfest is the open week made by its hosts.
I just want to attend — how does that work?
Once the programme is published, every event carries its own time, place and ticketing information. You choose what you want to see across the week.
