The 52nd Eurovision Song Contest was held in Helsinki in 2007. Following the victory of Lordi in 2006, Finland hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. The venue for the two-day competition was Hartwall Arena in Helsinki. The semi-final was held on 10 May and the final on 12 May 2007. The event was hosted by Mikko Leppilampi and Jaana Pelkonen. Serbia won the contest for the first time with the song “Molitva” performed by Marija Serifovic. The Finnish representative Hanna Pakarinen came in 17th with her song “Leave Me Alone”. The 2010 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Oslo, Norway.

The queen of pop, Madonna did her first performance in Finland 6.8.2009 and it was definitely quite a show. There were 85 000 spectators in Helsinkis Jätkäsaari who had arrived to see Madonna in her Sticky & Sweet Tour. It was the biggest chargeable concert ever organized in Scandinavia. The concert was started by DJ Paul Oakenfold at 8 pm. He played for an hour and after that Madonna started her set at 9:45 pm. The concert also included a tribute to Michael Jackson which was a part of the earlier concerts too. Four enormous videoscreen walls guaranteed that the spectators further from stage could easily see the concert and its star as well. The concert was also watched by many for example from the shores of Lauttasaari where people could  hear the music well.

The concert and all the arrangements behind it were extremely successful, commented the arranging organization Live Nation. City of Helsinki was also an important co-operator of the event.

The UEFA Women’s Championships in Football were held in Helsinki from 23 August to 10 September 2009. The event marked the 7th UEFA Women’s Euro. The venues included the Olympic Stadium and Football Stadium in Helsinki, as well as Lahti, Tampere and Turku. For the first time in the tournament’s history 12 national teams participated: Germany, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, England, France, Italy, Ukraine and the Netherlands. A total of 46 national teams participated in the qualifying matches. As the host nation, Finland did not have to qualify.

Finland began its home event strongly but eventually succumbed to England in the quarter finals. Germany won the championships for the fifth time in a row. The organisation of the UEFA Women’s Euro in Finland was a great success, also in terms of the number of specta-tors. The FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held in summer 2011 in Germany.

The Finnish Fireworks Championships attracted thousands of spectators to the Helsinki shore-line in 2009, as in previous years as well. An estimated 30,000 people turned up to admire the splendid fireworks displays in the late summer evening, and there was a steady flow of people to and thro throughout the event. In 2008 the competition was held in Töölönlahti Bay and at-tracted up to 120,000 spectators. The Finnish Fireworks Championships were organised by the TV channel Nelonen and Eastway Oy. The City of Helsinki was also a major co-operation part-ner. The competition was won by the company Ilotulitus Oy, and according to tradition the City of Helsinki offered the winner the chance to plan and organise the fireworks display for the New Year’s Eve celebrations in Senate Square. Altogether five fireworks companies took place in the competition.

The rockets were fired into the sky from Hernesaari Island off the coast of Kaivopuisto Park. Special attention was paid to the needs of spectators and keeping the area tidy. Special teams cleaned up all the litter from the park during the event, and members of the public were also encouraged to pick up after themselves. Spectators who picked up litter were rewarded with Fairtrade carnations.

The 9th DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival took over the cinemas of Helsinki on the 26th–31st of January in 2010. This year the festival expanded itself to Tallinn, Estonia for the first time as well. DocPoint gathers up yearly the best documentary films from Finland and worldwide. Actually it is the largest festival in Scandinavia only dedicated to documentary films. 10th DocPoint - Helsinki Documentary Film Festival will be organised on 25th - 30st January 2011 in Helsinki, Finland.

The World Village Festival showcases cultures from around the world in Kaisaniemi Park and its surroundings at the end of May. The annual event has been held since 2005.

The festival programme features music from ethno to pop and rock, as well as dance, theatre, literature and food from around the world. In addition the festival includes a factual programme and exhibitions related to multiculturalism, globalisation and development co-operation. The Market of Opportunities is organised at the same time. The next World Village Festival takes place on 29-30 May 2010 in Kaisaniemi Park and Railway Square.

The “Naisten Kymppi” Women’s 10K Fun Run is a fun event for women of all ages. The event attracted almost 18,000 participants in 2009. Participants can run, job or walk the 10 kilometres at their own pace. The main idea is to have fun and not compete.

The next Naisten Kymppi will be held on 30 May 2010 in the vicinity of the Olympic Stadium. Registration for the event began in November.

Flow Festival is an urban music and culture festival that is held in August as part of the annual Helsinki Festival. Flow Festival’s pro-gramme presents music that the festival organisers themselves con-sider to be the most interesting right now. The programme freely combines different genres of music (including jazz, soul, electronic, indie, rock and folk) with other contemporary art and culture.

The 7th Flow Festival will be held on 13-15 August 2010 at Suvilahti in Helsinki. This year there will once again be big names on the stage such as M.I.A., Air and Huscy Rescue. The first artists are now announced on Flow Festival's website.

Art belongs to everyone again this year in Helsinki Festival from 20 August until 5 September 2010. In 2009 Finland’s biggest arts festival, the Helsinki Festival, broke its visitor target. The overall number of visitors to the Helsinki Festival reached almost 288,000. Ticketed events attracted a record-breaking 92,000 visitors, whilst 196,000 art lovers participated in the free events.

The Night of the Arts

This is the night when Helsinki never sleeps. The August night will be filled with events and experiences of all shapes and sizes from the early evening until the small hours. Discover what’s going on just around the corner - in the city’s parks, streets and squares. The next Night of the Arts is on 27 August 2010.

Helsinki Design Week 2010 invites design professionals and the general public to a week of events centred around the theme of storytelling. Now in its sixth year, Helsinki Design Week tells all the best stories behind the creations and processes involved in design. The week-long series of events, exhibitions and publications is already a story itself – a tale that communicates the message of design. Design is something for everyone, and it belongs to everyone. Design is important in our everyday lives, but it is also a strategic tool for competitive businesses. Helsinki Design Week offers design professionals a unique opportunity to display their skills and versatility – and everyone can be a part of the story. Heads are already turning towards the future, and particularly towards 2012, when Helsinki will reign as the World Design Capital. The story of design will continue into 2012 and on into the future.

This city-wide event, encompassing design, architecture and fashion, was first organised in 2005 and has evolved into a real phenomenon. The mission of Helsinki Design Week is to encourage companies to develop their business in new directions, to contribute to improvements in various areas of Helsinki, and to become more international in scope. Helsinki Design Week offers visitors exhibitions, seminars, workshops, fashion shows and shopping experiences, as well as open days in private homes, public buildings and design studios.

The Helsinki International Horse Show (HIHS) is held each year in October. In 2009 the event was held at Hartwall Arena on 15-18 October. The mainly show jumping event also presents international dressage performances and demonstrations of other riding disciplines.

The Helsinki International Horse Show was first held in 1985. The event was held at Helsinki Fair Centre until 1996, when it moved to Hartwall Arena . Since 1986 the Helsinki International Horse Show has included a round of the Show Jumping World Cup. Helsinki hosted the FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final in 1998. Helsinki is the northernmost venue for the Show Jumping World Cup. The next Helsinki International Horse Show will be organized on 21-24 October 2010.

The 2010 Men's World Floorball Championships will be the 8th such world championships in men's floorball and the biggest sports event held in Finland in 2010. The tournament will be held from December 4th to December 11th, 2010 in the cities of Helsinki and Vantaa, Finland.

This will be the first world championships under the International Floorball Federation's (IFF) FIFA-like continental qualification system. A total of 32 countries have registered for this event, which is the most nations to ever register for an IFF-sanctioned world championship event. As the ruling world champion Finland is going after gold medals this year too. Plenty of game tourists are expected to arrive especially from Sweden and other floorball countries. In addition to competitive success floorball wants to establish its place in the heavy league of sports in Finland by organizing a big and successful Championships tournament. The theme of 2010 Championships is "communality". 

Helsinki has been chosen to host the world’s largest amateur gymnastics event in 2015. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) gave yesterday the organization rights of Gymnaestrada to the Finnish Gymnastics Federation (Svoli). The event will bring to Helsinki some 25 000 gymnasts from 60 countries in July 2015. The massive event will be very much in evidence in Helsinki cityscape. Additionally, gymnastics performances will be organized in the city centre for townspeople to admire.

Gymnaestrada is a FIG gymnastics event for amateurs organized every fourth year. The participants are mainly in the age group 15 to 60 years but there will also be younger children and elderly senior gymnasts. Gymnaestrada gathers together amateurs and top athletes of all gymnastic sports.

The event is built around different show programmes. Besides indoor shows in the Helsinki Fair Centre, there will be major field shows and smaller groups on stages in the city centre. The joy of gymnastics and the international ambience are the essence of the event.