Map&FestivalArea
Only a walking distance from the centre of Helsinki, the festival takes place at the historical Suvilahti, a former power plant area in Helsinki. The factory area has been transformed into a perfect setting for the festivities with lighting design, decorations, design and the latest in event technology. The charming area also provides plenty of spots for resting and sitting in the case of acute festival fatigue. The area map will provide you with stage locations, restaurants and bars, water points, toilets, wifi spots and other important locations. See the map below or download the map in pdf format from here.
The Suvilahti festival area houses 11 unique venues for Flow, including massive outdoor and tent stages for thrilling and atmospheric spectacles as well as cosy indoor and outdoor venues for more intimate moments. The Main Stage is fit to entertain the complete festival audience, while the smaller stages are suited for audiences of a few hundred festival goers. Take a closer look at the venues below.
Main Stage
All roads lead to the Main Stage, which dominates the centre of the festival area. This eye-catching primary stage is located at the core of the Flow environment, and is reachable or visible from almost every part of Suvilahti. The Main Stage also has an exceptionally large video screen implementation, which has physical dimensions of 57 m x 8.4 m. The classic outdoor Main Stage has seen some of the brightest stars of the global music scene and been the epicenter of unforgettable Flow discoveries.
Red Arena by Lapin Kulta Pure
First introduced to Flow Festival’s audience in 2016, the gigantic tent stage, boasting a capacity of almost 15,000 persons, has become one of the festival area’s reference points. The flagship tent by Kayam has a maximum height of 20 metres, and the stage structure equals the Main Stage in size. This year near Red Arena by Lapin Kulta Pure, there’s a fully self-sufficient Lapin Kulta Pure container bar running on solar power.
Balloon 360°
Balloon 360° is the beating heart of Flow Festival. The stage was born ten years ago as the result of an architecture competition and has since become one of the festival’s hallmarks. The stage is like a planet of its own where the atmosphere is always enchanting and intimate. The grandstand surrounding the stage offers festival goers goosebump-inducing performance spectacles. Not surprisingly, the enchanting Balloon 360° has proven to be immensely popular, so make sure to arrive in good time to secure your seats under the mesmerizing balloon.
FREE.fi Black Tent
The Black Tent is known for its palpable atmosphere. This year is not different, as the black tent serves as a venue for the most current names both domestic and international. The eye-catching milieu invites festival visitors to dive into the music and enjoy! Top billing artists fill up the tent swiftly with music enthusiasts, so we recommend festival goers to make their way to the Black Tent events in good time for the best seats in the house.
The Other Sound x Sun Effects
The old powerplant of Suvilahti, is the largest of the industrial structures in the area. The wide open, thousand-square-meter hall has the distinction of serving as the Flow Festival’s official sanctuary for The Other Sound program, which shines a light on the gems of experimental music. This year The Other Sound’s program has been executed in collaboration with the design collective Sun Effects. The Other Sound x Sun Effects invites Flow visitors to stop and seek inner peace, guided by music and sound. The Other Sound x Sun Effects program features experimental music from a variety of artists, including from the fields of sound art, jazz, ambient, electronic music and classical music. In addition, The Other Sound has a topical video and light art collection curated by Sun Effects, including e.g. video artist Ville Mäkelä‘s Иван V (Ivana V), which criticizes the tyranny and despots and Hehku by video artist Merle Karp, which examines the environmental destruction.
Resident Advisor Front Yard
Premiered in 2017, the lush new Resident Advisor Front Yard offers a large outdoor venue to see the top names in electronic music. At Front Yard the parties take place in the middle of grungy containers and dazzling lights. What’s more, at Front Yard you don’t have to worry about moments of silence, as the music plays non-stop.
Red Garden
First introduced at Flow Festival in 2017, Red Garden is the passionate beating heart of Flow Festival – a synergistic space open to everyone, where people, music, and the collective experience meet. It’s a vibrant communal garden of nightlife beats, a diverse breeding ground where everyone is free to blossom out as fiery red flowers.
Red Garden is hosted throughout the Flow weekend by a diverse bunch of hosts brought together by Andre Pozusis, the Red Devil of Helsinki’s nightlife, and Minttu Vesala, the High Priest of style and culture born to party.
Backyard
Flow Festival’s Backyard is the verdant oasis full of good vibes for club music aficionados in the post-industrial Suvilahti area. The legendary Backyard offers a diverse set of DJ music that draws to the sonic worlds of house, disco and soul as well as influences from different parts of South America and Africa.
Champagne Bar & Lounge
The bubbles in the tall drink that is the Flow Festival are provided by the popular Champagne Bar & Lounge by Lanson, located in the Balloon 360°. In addition to the sparkling beverages, also talented DJs can be found here, blasting their best selections. Sit down for a minute, take a sip and relax.
Tiilikello x Polestar
Flow Festival along with its partner, electric car manufacturer Polestar present a new event space, Tiilikello x Polestar, as the recently renovated, awe-inspiring old gasometer is dedicated entirely to spatial and sound art. Reaching over 40 meters high, the impressive Tiilikello x Polestar venue hosts an exhibition curated by Emmi Kattelus. A massive, yet fragile work, The Blowing Flower by artist Hanna Vihriälä and the work Butterfly Effect by composer and sound artist Antti Tolvi will be exhibited in the space.
Cirko
The most recent work by new media artist Adel Abidin, Musical Manifest, will be on display at Cirko for the enitre Flow weekend. Musical Manifest is a six-channel video installation that investigates identity and perspective through music. It consists of six music videos where Abidin sings and acts as the protagonist. Intermixed from well-known pop songs, the lyrics resonate with the contemplation of his meanings in life. The work explores the themes of identity, power, fear, clichés, slippages, and uncertainties.
Musical Manifest premiers in Europe at Flow Festival and is executed together with Creative Technology.