In 2026, there will be two cities in Europe boasting the title of European Capital of Culture.
One will be in Slovakia and one in Finland. And it is the Finns who have already handed over the second-round Bid Book and are currently preparing for the visit of the jury, which should be in May, and for the subsequent defenses of the entire project. The winning project from Finland should be known during the summer.
If you are interested in the projects developed by the three Finnish cities of Oulu, Tampere and Saimaa-ilmiö – candidates for the European Capital of Culture for 2026, read below 🙂
OULU
The project, created by OULU 2026, is called Cultural Climate Change and, as the name suggests, reflects on 2021, a change in the way the world works as well as climate change, but also their efforts to reconnect with the world around them and the culture that surrounds them.
TAMPERE
Tampere called their project Egually European, and they want to involve the whole of Europe equally in the project and discuss how best to invite Europeans to the debate on equality. Equality itself is a big topic of the whole project. They divided their program line into 4 parts – (R) evolutions, Equally Yours, Village Hopping, Wild Card.
SAIMAA – ILMIO
Photo by: Saimaa-ilmiö 2026
The Saimaa project is called „Tha Art of Living“ and divides the projects into three sections within the program lines – Power of Water, Connecting Bridges a Eastern Joy.
„After the pandemic is over, the world will yearn for peace, clarity and sustainability. These factors constitute the very essence of life for the people who live in eastern Finland. We have developed a special way of living and a unique set of skills that we wish to share with the world. It’s high time we reveal everything about our secret haven and the source of our creativity for all of Europe to see. „
