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Weekend Wrap

New music, free meals and “glamping bubbles”

Finland’s newest national park, Salla National Park, offers hiking trails along ridges, gorges and pristine lakes.

Harri Tarvainen / Salla National Park

The word of the week is music. We cover new music from Blind Channel, a coveted new post for conductor Klaus Mäkelä and a new record deal for Erika Sirola. In other news, did you know Europe’s fastest supercomputer is located in Finland? Click on any photo to take a detailed look at recent creativity from Finland.

Europe's fastest supercomputer is now located in Finland. Named Lumi, the supercomputer was ranked third among the top 500 supercomputers globally. It is also one of the greenest of its kind worldwide. Read more on the Lumi website. (Photo: Pekka Agarth)

"It became a mission to create a story that young women of today could identify with," says film director and screenwriter Alli Haapasalo. Haapasalo talked to Fade to Her about her award-winning film, Girl Picture, her favourite film-makers and women in the film industry. (Photo: Iina Tegman)

Aeromon raises 4.8 million euros in funding. The 2015-founded startup has developed monitoring technology to detect, measure and visualise airborne emissions. Its mobile system can lead "to highly accurate leak detection and quantification of leaking emissions 10 times quicker than traditional methods", writes Tech.eu. (Photo: Aeromon)

Glamping with the northern lights. House Beautiful has picked Wilderness Hotel Nellim in Finnish Lapland as among its seven "incredible glamping bubbles around the world". Nellim's Aurora Bubbles have glass roofs with a view up into the northern sky. (Photo: Wilderness Hotel Nellim)

Klaus Mäkelä has been named the new chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The Finnish conductor will start this autumn as an artistic partner at the 133-year-old Amsterdam-based ensemble and take the podium as chief conductor in 2027. "This is a truly extraordinary orchestra and there is nothing like it," Mäkelä told the New York Times following his appointment. (Photo: Marco Borggreve)

Elektra Records has signed Finnish singer-songwriter Erika Sirola. Sirola, who got her first record deal at age 12, incorporates folk, jazz and pop into her music. "Erika is one of the most talented and unique artists and songwriters I have worked with," Jacob Fain, SVP of A&R at Elektra Music Group, told music site Consequence Sound. (Photo: Warner Music)

A new transparent cellulose film could replace traditional plastic food packing. Developed by VTT, the bio-based and biodegradable. film can be disposed of in standard cardboard recycling. (Photo: VTT)

Blind Channel has released a new single, Don't Fix Me, from its upcoming album. The rock band, which represented Finland at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, describes the track as "the soundtrack for the wildest parties and the cure for the day-after's hangover". Read more and watch the video on BraveWords. (Photo: Facebook / Blind Channel)

TreeHugger has discovered an 80-year-old tradition in Helsinki. This is how long the city has offered free hot meals in playgrounds around the city during the school summer holidays. The meals are available to everyone under 16 as long as they bring their own drink, a dish and a fork or spoon. (Photo: Merja Väänänen)

Aki Kaurismäki is back. The renowned Finnish film director, who retired in 2017, has announced he's working on a new film with the working title Dead Leaves. According to Variety, the film, which will be Kaurismäki's 19th feature, will start shooting in Helsinki at the end of August. (Photo: still from the film The Other Side of Hope, Malla Hukkanen / Sputnik)

Finland's 41st national park has opened in Lapland. The park in Salla, Eastern Lapland, covers roughly 100 square kilometres and is characterised by fell landscapes, old-growth forests, mires and ravines. Yle has the story. (Photo: Harri Tarvainen / Salla National Park)

By: Eeva Haaramo
17.06.2022