Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the family-friendly event kicked off the Helsinki festival summer in a joyful and opinionated atmosphere. The festival attracted 27 500 visitors on Saturday and 32 500 on Sunday. In addition, the Speaker’s Stage programme was followed online by 2 000 viewers. The festival, with its message of peace, offered music from Finland and around the world, powerful speeches, tasty food and many other experiences, as well as hundreds of exhibitors. The theme of peace was heard throughout the festival.
The festival, which celebrated its 30th anniversary, ran smoothly in a positive atmosphere, with a large audience on both days from morning to evening. World Village set its own attendance record compared to previous Suvilahti festivals.
– World Village is clearly a summer opener loved by the people of the city, who come to enjoy the atmosphere, the food and the factual and cultural content. This year, the Peace theme touched both the audience and the performers. Civil society showed its strength and mobilised the public for a good cause. People wanted to show that we cannot turn our backs and stay inactive, says Nelli Korpi, the festival’s Communications Manager.
On the Music Stage on Saturday, the Sound of Peace concert inspired people with its message of peace, and Grande Mahogany and Majur charmed festivalgoers. On Sunday, Skidit-disko invited the kids to a dance party and Isaac Sene continued dancing with the crowd in the afternoon sun. Ana Tijoux and DAM, among others, gave impressive speeches for peace between their shows. Funky Amigos Terrace Party provided upbeat dances during the breaks of the Music Stage.
On the Speaker’s Stage the audience was drawn particularly by the interview with Pekka Haavisto and the following programmes: Finland’s role in advancing a just and sustainable future in Palestine-Israel, When Your Peace Isn’t My Peace, Is there still a place for global rules, Daily life in the World –correspondents as bridge-builders and Seksikäs-Suklaa and Dosdela: music, humour and social peace. The audience was focused, impressed, and moved by the speakers’ experiences, messages, and themes.
Other areas of the festival also attracted visitors. The Market of Possibilities and the exhibitors were of great interest. The Book World was popular, and the Street Art area, the kids’ programme and YMCA Peace & Sports also inspired and encouraged people to take action for a better world and peace. Food was on the minds of many festivalgoers and the 40 food vendors at the festival filled many stomachs with tasty vegetarian food.
The whole weekend went very peacefully. People were in high spirits and Saturday’s cloudy weather didn’t affect the festivities. On Sunday, the event was celebrated in sunny weather.
World Village Festival will be held again in May 2026. We are developing the festival and we hope for broad participation from our visitors and stakeholders in this work. You can get involved, for example, by answering the visitor survey. A link to the stakeholder survey will be sent to stakeholders shortly after the festival. We will announce more detailed plans next autumn.
More information and interview requests
Communications Manager Nelli Korpi, nelli.korpi@fingo.fi, +358 50 317 6698
Press photos on Flickr
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World Village Festival is a sustainable development festival that discusses current global issues and inspires people to act for a more sustainable world, since 1995. The international admission free event will be organised in Suvilahti, Helsinki on 24–25 May 2025 with Peace as its theme. 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.
