For all the great fests that Finland has, the one thing that is missing from time to time is something that gathers the more special side of heavy music. We used to have Blow-Up festival, which we called a mini version of the illustrious Roadburn. But slowly and steadily, a new player crawled into that empty spot with Sonic Rites. And this year’s edition stands out even more than ever with an excellent line-up including exciting names like Midnight, Witch Club Satan, dälek, Girlschool, Conjurer, Downfall Of Gaia, Stoned Jesus and so much more. It really brings together some of the heaviest, most unique and artistic parts of the widely diverse heavy metal scene. An event you won’t want to miss out on and keep on your radar in the future!

If you’re looking to go to something of a bigger scale with some of the biggest names in the metal and rock scene overall, while still having a somewhat cosy atmosphere, Rockfest might be your destination this summer. They advertise themselves as being “The Biggest Rock Festival in Finland”, and from experiencing it in the past, that is a very accurate description. After having taken a break last year, they’re totally back and will completely take over the city of Turku for a couple of days this time. The completely new location at the Gatorade Center promises to lift the event to another level, looking how great it was for Knotfest Finland some years ago.

Also this year it’s pretty massive with some massive bands booked for the mainstage again with the Thursday headliner being Judas Priest, Friday bolstering the demented show of Till Lindemann, and on Saturday the glorious return of Muse to Finland for what will be an absolutely epic show. But that is not all, joining the already impressive mainstage bill are the Welsh rock legends Manic Street Preachers and metalcore icons Bullet For My Valentine, English rockers The Cult, possibly the last show ever of Sepultura in Finland, Swedish hard rockers H.E.A.T and Nestor, Finnish power metal machine Battle Beast and Michael Monroe led cult rock band Demolition 23!

Rockfest is not called the biggest rock festival in Finland for nothing, you’ll find 2 more stages with bands to fill your time while you wait for the next act on the mainstage. And again you’ll find a healthy combination of both Finnish acts with Crownshift, Stam1na, Awake Again, Toivo-Olavi, Sara, Mokoma, Kovaa Rasvaa, Moon Shot and Kilpi, and international acts with Millencolin, D-A-D, Jinjer, Black Flag, Ugly Kid Joe, Dead By April, Die Krupps, GHØSTKID, Cemetery Skyline, Health, Immortal Disfigurement, RØRY and Nestor. We want to bet there are at least some bands that will appeal to you!

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Nummirock has gotten somewhat of a legendary status among people in Finland, and we believe this charming festival in the middle of the forest is an absolute must if you’re looking for an event to celebrate midsummer with some good music and never-ending parties. It helps of course that the lineup is yet again really awesome, with some killer international acts like Alestorm, Fit for An Autopsy, Cattle Decapitation, Marduk, Kanonenfieber, Signs of the Swarm, Patriarkh,… And of course there’s also a damn solid selection of excellent Finnish bands with Mokoma, Turmion Kätilöt, Hevisaurus, Korpiklaani, Bloodred Hourglass, Before The Dawn, Assemble the Chariots, Dawn of Solace, Tyrantti, and much, much more. This really seems too good to have to miss out on, so get your camping gear ready!

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One of Finland’s longest running city metalfests has been a permanent fixture in our yearly event calendar for almost a decade now. Tuska knows how to put together a fun and exciting lineup year after year, a combination of widely appealing bands with still room for some experimentation and different choices than what you’d expect at a metal festival. They seem to have a talent to see the potential in bands, placing acts as headliner before they are such anywhere else, or bringing up-and-coming bands to the Finnish shores for them to showcase their skills. This year we get the headliners In Flames, Powerwolf and Lorna Shore on the main stage, but also popular acts like Electric Callboy, Motionless In White, Cradle of Filth, Knocked Loose, Dragonforce, Slaughter to Prevail, Orbit Culture, Charlotte Wessels and much more.

Additional to that, Finland is of course well represented with for instance Marko Hietala, Turmion Kätilöt, Mokoma, Battle Beast, Tarja Turunen, Apocalyptica, Cyan Kicks and so on. But what about the left field choices for this year’s lineup? We’re getting quite some electronic/dance music influenced acts this time around with last year’s Eurovision relevation Bambie Thug, French “viking war trance” duo Eihwar and true crime act Skynd, but also the weirdness that is Kim Dracula, pagan folk from Noiduin and so much more to discover!

And add to that all the activities you can participate in besides music like getting corpse paint or the ever expanding and impressive Tuska Expo with a wide range of vendors bringing their best stuff for you to empty your wallet on. Also, the fact that it’s conveniently located at Suvilahti, an event area 10 minutes away from Helsinki center by public transport, makes it all the more appealing to spend 3 epic days this Summer!

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With Tuhdimmat Tahdit making its glorious return a couple of years ago, they’ve had some pretty editions behind them. Last year they boasted a fully Finnish line-up which seemed to have been appreciated by its visitors. This year they’re back at going international and bringing in some pretty epic bands from abroad with Hammerfall, Amaranthe, Blind Guardian and Hardcore Superstar! But of course they still have a very accomplished Finnish line-up to add to that with the Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus “Itku Pitkasta Ilosta 25 Vuotta” anniversary show, Lordi, Mustasch, Kilpi, Finntroll, Battle Beast, Michael Monroe, Turmion Kätilöt, Moon Shot and Black Devils! And of course, with its location in Eteläpuisto park right at the water, not too far from Tampere’s city center, it’s going to be such a fun place to be at this summer!

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This has been going on for a couple of years now, and every year we’re again impressed with the acts they bring to this craftbeer brewery for people to enjoy some amazing music and beer. Last year we got international acts like black metal legend Ihsahn and Brazilian hardcore institution Ratos De Porão, but also domestic showings of Before the Dawn, …and Oceans, Huora, Lähiöbotox, Scandinavian Music Group and Värttinä.

For this summer season, they already announced exciting nights ahead starting with the Swedish party rockers of Royal Republic on July 4th, followed by Antti Autio the day after. Also Swedish hard rockers Eclipse will stir up a riot with local rock legends Shiraz Lane on July 10 and Von Hertzen Brothers are taking over a couple of days later. We assume that they will announce at least a couple more dates and acts still in the nearby future.

The setting for this concert series is simply amazing. With a stage set up in the garden behind the building of CoolHead brewery, it results in a cosy atmosphere while being close to their high quality craftbeer to sip from while watching the show. It’s a unique concept within Finland where you can experience quality on all levels and don’t have to lower your standards to drinking the usual crappy drinks. And while it’s a bit further away from the Helsinki city center, it’s surprisingly easy to get to the place with public transport!

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Dark River Festival has been around for a moment and has grown to be known as one of the nicest and friendliest festivals every festival summer in Finland. Their mission is to offer everyone that takes part in the festival a comfortable and safe experience and a positive atmosphere. And they take that indeed very much to heart, with even the press and photographers coming to cover the event being treated as I’ve never seen or heard of before! For that reason alone, we highly recommend to try and visit this festival at least once in your lifetime. So why not this summer? Because to avoid overlapping with other major events they have moved the  usual festival weekend in August to a month earlier, so there are no excuses anymore.

And the atmosphere is of course not where it ends, with yet again a pretty impressive line-up consisting of stellar acts like Stam1na, My Dying Bride, Unleash The Archers, Rotting Christ, Swallow The Sun, Finntroll, Wolfheart, Kalmah, Carach Angren, In Mourning, Xandria, Parasite Inc, Amoral, The Crown, Metsatöll, Vermilia, To/Die/For, and much more!

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While we’re at it: the well oiled machinery that is Tuhti Events has yet another amazing sounding festival to offer this summer. While Sastamalan Torijuhlat is on a much smaller scale than Tuhdimat Tahdit it’s also much cheaper where for just €49,90 you get to see a very fine selection of 10 Finnish artists including Sonata Arctica, Klamydia, Kotiteollisuus and Brother Firetribe spread out onto two days. This festival just sounds like it will give you the full and real Finnish summer experience of live music, beer and “torille”.

John Smith Rock Festival is another one of those festivals people always speak highly of due to its great lineup and stellar location. It advertises itself as “The Best Rock Festival in Finland”, and from what we’ve heard and seen that seems quite accurate. Located at a quite idyllic environment relatively close to Jyväskylä at one of the lakes there, the atmosphere is something special. And the line-up is year after year, an impressive collection of quality Finnish and international bands with always some rare sightings.

For 2025, they’re bringing Within Temptation, Opeth, Hypocrisy, Pretty Maids, Pain, Dirkschneider, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, Borknagar, Infected Rain, Hardcore Superstar, Lacrimas Profundere and Enemy Inside to Finland, completed with national acts Stratovarius, Turmion Kätilöt, Bloodred Hourglass, Omnium Gatherum, Moon Shot, Sara, Tyrantti, Assemble the Chariots, Luna Kills and more! While we were going through this line-up, we got excited about as good as every entry, and we’re sure that many of you will have the same feeling!

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What is better than a day on the beach in the summer? A day on the beach with live metal music of course! And the best part: you can bring your whole family with you.

Hevipäivät is a new metal festival for all ages in Kangasalla. It’s a little more off the beaten path, but the beautiful location at Vesaniemen beach makes up for the added efforts of getting to the festival.

The festival is rocking another all Finnish line up that’s living up to its name and is gonna bring some heavy music to your ears. White a line-up featuring Warmen, Kiuas, Wolfheart, Rotten Sound, Dawn of Solace, Khroma, Iiwanajulma and Balance Breach, you know you’re in for a good time!

A festival in Tampere, one of Finland’s nicest cities, on an island in the middle of the big lake the city right in its center, with a lineup that mostly heralds Finnish bands but with every edition a nice and interesting selection of foreign acts, aptly named SaariHelvetti (Island of Hell). What more could you wish for as a metalhead? After last year’s great line-up for the 10th anniversary, what they cooked up this time is pretty great as well, where you’ll find some of the best of the Finnish scene there with Stam1na, Swallow The Sun, Kaunis Kuolematon, Havukruunu, Ruoska, Cumbeast, Insomnium, Bloodred Hourglass, Huora, …and Oceans,… and a special 10 Year Anniversary Show of the local King Satan! But it’s not all Finnish, SaariHelvetti is also flying over the Swedish dark symphonic revelation Eleine, extreme metal greats Gaerea and the Danish post-black outfit MØL to the island! And you won’t even have to miss out on any of the bands if you don’t want to, because the performances alternate between the 2 stages there without any overlaps. But if you want to skip an artist, you’ll find plenty of other things to occupy yourself with for instance the yearly “Speed dating in Hell”, and the shows from Tampere Burlesque‘s finest. So get your tickets, and catch yourself a boat to the best island in Finland!

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A festival near the center of Helsinki sprouted from these fertile grounds, and with 2 editions crammed full with impressive line-ups and activities, in the mean time already an established name with its 3rd edition. Hellsinki Metal Festival will take place in and around Jäähalli, the ice hockey hall that features many of Helsinki’s biggest concerts throughout the year. And with a line-up that brings us significantly more international bands than Finnish bands compared to most events, it has become an absolutely stacked bill, especially for a first edition! And the wide variety of genres featured in it, is all the more reason for us to want to attend!

King Diamond, Venom, Marduk, Dismember, Hatebreed, Fear Factory, Michael Schenker, Cult of Luna, Enslaved, Landmvrks, Moonsorrow, Old Mans Child, Forbidden, Kanonenfieber, Me and That Man, Candlemass, Decapitated, Alfahanne, Brutal Sphincter, Party Cannon, Ill Niño, Napalm Death, Sigh, Luna Kills, Rabbit Cult, Gost,… brings the top of the crop in power metal, black metal, prog metal, death metal, death- and metalcore, and beyond!

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