Lux Helsinki, the leading event of its kind in the Baltic Sea region, is a light installation event organised in the beginning of January that makes light of the darkest time of the year.

This festival is one of Europe’s most important contemporary music events. Under the artistic direction of Johan Tallgren and through the works of fascinating composers, Musica nova Helsinki takes a stand on the social phenomena of our times.

Four times a year arranged food carnival, when anyone can open a restaurant for a day. Coffee and cakes at the docks, treats from the trunk of a van, a six-course dinner in your living room – everything is possible. Restaurant Day is based on spontaneity and volunteering.

The Easter festivities in Helsinki begin on Good Friday with the Via Crucis – Stages of the Cross procession through the city centre.

The Havis Amanda fountain statue is washed by university students as the prelude to the city's May Day (Vappu) celebrations. The partying continues the next morning with traditional herring and champagne picnics in Kaivopuisto Park and Ullanlinna Hill.

Lovely Helsinki City Festival celebrates spring, summer and Helsinki by decorating and taking it over with flowers. Versatile programme invites people to enjoy the season featuring for instance late night shopping and a special day for children and families.

Cleaning Day (Siivouspäivä in Finnish) is a new day of celebration for friends of recycling, secondhand, and urban culture. It transforms cities into giant flea markets, where anyone can sell or give away their needless stuff.

The cultures of the world will come together in Kaisaniemi Park for a major free event offering a wealth of art and action for the whole family.Photo by:Inka Soveri/Kepa

The annual festival Finnish Province Days welcomes Botnia to the Senate Square. Visitors to Helsinki will have the chance to experience this unique region with all their senses. The festival includes regional foods, handicrafts and culture.

Founded in 1550, the city celebrates its birthday on 12 June. This day has become a real city party, offering lots of things to see, do and experience for people of all ages.

Finnish midsummer is all about bonfires, dancing, games, swings and magic, the Finnish flag and the scent of birch trees. Seurasaari Island

Helsinki Pride consists of parties, meetings and discussions, highlight being the Pride Parade across the city centre.

The biggest heavy metal festival in Northern Europe takes place in Helsinki at the end of June. The festival features some of the biggest Finnish and international names in metal. The rocking continues outside the festival grounds at clubs and bars throughout town.

The Helsinki Cup is one of Europe's biggest international junior football tournaments. The event attract hundreds of teams to pitches throughout Helsinki, and over the past 30-plus years many different countries have been represented.

The music presented at Flow is a strong and varied selection of up and coming and established artists from indie-rock to soul and jazz and from folk to contemporary club sounds, both from the Finnish and the international scene.

Finland’s largest arts festival will once again provide a diverse programme of events throughout the city, with experiences ranging from classical to world music and pop, from drama to contemporary dance, and from visual art to film and children’s events. This is a festival that brings the arts to everyone!

The Helsinki City Marathon is Finland's biggest running event, attracting around 6500 runners from around the world. The course is particularly beautiful, following the coastline of the Baltic Sea. For children also their own marathon nearby the Olympic Stadium..

This is the night when Helsinki never sleeps. The August night will be filled with cultural events and experiences of all shapes and sizes from the early evening until the small hours.

Helsinki Design Week is the biggest design event in Northern Europe offering a city-wide meeting place and discussion forum for design professionals and enthusiasts alike.

This major film festival features internationally renowned filmmakers and their works.

Every autumn fishermen gather in the Market Square for the traditional Helsinki Baltic Herring Fair to sell their Baltic herring and other fish products.Photo by:Kimmo Brandt

Linnanmäki lights up again in the midst of autumn, during the schools’ autumn break. The Carnival of Light invites people of all ages to enjoy programme events, light and autumn atmosphere in the park.

The opening of the Christmas street along Aleksanterinkatu is a sure sign that the Christmas season in Helsinki is underway. Christmas markets begin to appear throughout the city, including the popular St. Thomas Christmas Market.

Each year a young maiden is chosen to represent St. Lucia on Lucia Day 13 December. Lucia is crowned in the Cathedral at 17:00 after that she will descend the Cathedral stairs to the Senate Square.

Helsinki residents have been ringing in the New Year at Senate Square since 1932. Tens of thousands of people gather to celebrate the New Year at the Square. After the countdown colourful fireworks will illuminate the sky, after which the partying continues throughout the night all around town.