The Theme is Wisdom – Check out the program!

Jyväskylä Festival, the oldest continuously running city festival in the Nordic countries, will take place from July 1–7, featuring concerts, theater, exhibitions, and discussions. This marks the festival’s 71st edition, and this year’s theme is wisdom. The Jazz Finland 100 anniversary is reflected in the program with a strong jazz lineup, and Jyväskylän Kesä will bring to the stage, among others, J. Karjalainen, Maustetytöt and MELOn.

At the core of the music software is jazz: radiant stars arrive in Jyväskylä Aili Ikonen and Oona Airola, American jazz banjo player Cynthia Sayer and award-winning pianist-composer Heikki Sarmanto with one of the legends of Finnish jazz Jyväskylä Workshop Band with. Additionally, listeners will be able to enjoy, among other things Samuli Edelmann from the summer concert in Keuruu as well Elton John Ikimuistoiset kappaleet in tribute concert. Ursus Factory, emma & matilda and helmi marleena, among others, will perform at the park festival alongside J. Karjalainen and MELO.

Performing arts offer up hearty humor and dramatic twists. For example, audiences can dive into Queen Elizabeth Iand playwright Anton Chekhov and his wife Olga Knipper to delve into the countess's secret vices La Kalan in the salon opera, and deepen their own relationship with nature Story Theatre Raakku for the performance taking place in the garden of Kulttuuritalo Villa Rana. In addition, as usual, various workshops and discussion events will be offered. Ensuring entertainment for the whole family is especially taken care of by Children's Summer, which includes, among other things, various activity points, characters that can be sung to and played with, music moments, and the anticipated Oikokatu painting.

During Jyväskylä Festival, we’ll also have the chance to gain some insight through a recently released talk show. The discussion program explores wisdom from various perspectives: What is wisdom, and where can it be found? Do we still know how to value wisdom? Is it even wise to be wise anymore? 

The opening seminar asks if journalism matters, and if so, to whom. Whose stories will be told, or will the provinces remain news deserts? A media decision-maker and a director will ponder these questions. Merja Ylä-Anttila, group CEO Vesa-Pekka KangaskorpI (Media Group Keskisuomalainen), journalist Oskari Onninen (New Thing), Editor-in-Chief Nikke Sillanpää (Rare Media) and Assistant Professor of Media and Communication Studies Karoliina Talvitie-Lamberg. The opening seminar is being organized by the City of Jyväskylä, the University of Jyväskylä, and the Keskisuomalainen Media Group in collaboration with Jyväskylän Kesä.

In addition, the festival program features a wide variety of art exhibitions, museums, and other events that visitors can explore during Jyväskylän Festival. Festival visitors can access some of the exhibitions free of charge.

The entire festival week program and ticket sales can be found on these pages. Some additions will be made to our comprehensive program in the coming weeks.

Photo: Helena Vepsäläinen