This year’s theme, Peace, can be seen and heard on the programme of World Village Festival. The admission free event for the whole family will feature Brazilian Majur, Chilean-French Ana Tijoux and Sudanese Ebo Krdum, among others. The City of Helsinki is the main partner of the festival for the first time.
The City of Helsinki will organise Talks and discussions and workshops for children, and you can also meet the city as an exhibitor.
– The theme of this year’s World Village Festival Peace is important to Helsinki as we want to be a city where all ways of life and all opinions can coexist in harmony. During the festival, the city will be seen above all as a city of reconciliation, participation and sustainable development that is open, listening and interactive, says Johanna Seppälä, Participation Director at the City of Helsinki.
A message of peace through music
– This year’s festival will feature a diverse line-up of artists taking a stand for peace and human rights. We believe that through music we can create hope and a genuine force for change, says Johanna Eurakoski, Programme Manager of the festival.
Ana Tijoux, a Chilean-French singer who combines hip-hop, reggaeton and afrobeat, tackles current topics such as war and feminism in her music. Tijoux, who has been performing since the 90s, has won a Latin Grammy and gotten several Grammy nominations and is now coming to Finland for the first time.
The Brazilian rising star Majur is a strong advocate for LGBTQIAP+ rights. The trans artist combines R&B and blues and promises a spectacular show for the festival. Her career got off to a flying start with a Latin Grammy nomination in 2021.
Sudanese musician and peace advocate Ebo Krdum won a Folk & World Music Grammy in 2021. Sweden-based Krdum’s songs are contemporary political afroblues and afrobeat, and they address the fight against corruption, disarmament and peace.
Grande Mahogany‘s song Super Rocker, which combines funk, rock and afro-psychedelia, was Radio Helsinki’s most played song of 2024. The Helsinki-based artist won the Artist of the Year and Music Video of the Year categories at the Funky Awards that same year.
R’n’b-influenced, genre-bending pop musician Isaac Sene‘s best-known songs N-sana and Kuuma jäbä deal with racism and bisexuality.
The children’s programme will peak with a performance by the super-popular Skidit-disko on the Music Stage. The disco will feature rhythms from around the world in a wild dance set.
The Speaker’s Stage will see Pekka Haavisto, Rauli Virtanen, Katriina Pajari and Wali Hashi
We are now publishing two of the twenty Speaker’s Stage discussions related to the theme of Peace. Pekka Haavisto (Greens), an experienced peacebuilder and Member of Parliament, explains what kind of peace talk and actions the world and Finland need right now. Haavisto will be interviewed by Silla Ristimäki, global justice expert at Fingo, the festival’s organiser.
Rauli Virtanen, a non-fiction writer and photojournalist of over five decades, and Katriina Pajari, a foreign journalist for Helsingin Sanomat in Ukraine and China among others, will share their experiences of reporting on war and peace. The discussion “War reporter or peace journalist – what is the role of a journalist in war?” will be led by journalist and Vikes’ Somalia expert Wali Hashi.
More programme releases in April
Three concerts have previously been published from the festival programme: Palestinian DAM, Syrian-French Sarab and the Sound of Peace concert featuring Elsi Sloan, Samuli Putro, Emma & Matilda, Nemat Battah, Ramy Essam and Vimma. Talks and discussions will be published on 2 April. Kids’ programme, art, workshops and festival clubs will be published on 16 April and the exhibitors on 5 May.
Organised by Finnish Development NGOs Fingo, the main partners of World Village Festival are City of Helsinki, the European Commission Representation in Finland and the European Parliament Liaison Office in Finland, Finn Church Aid and Maailman Kuvalehti magazine.
World Village Festival on theme Peace 24.–25.5.2025 in Suvilahti, Helsinki. Admission free!
More information
Communications: Nelli Korpi, nelli.korpi@fingo.fi, +358 50 317 6698
Programme: Johanna Eurakoski, johanna.eurakoski@fingo.fi, +358 50 317 6696
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World Village Festival is Finland’s leading event for global action for the whole family, an admission free cultural festival, and a trade fair for sustainable development. The event will be organised in the Suvilahti event venue, Helsinki 24–25 May 2025 with Peace as its theme.
