The international art event Lahti Fringe Festival will not be organized by City of Lahti this year. The event has suffered from the restrictions and uncertainty that is caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Since 2018, Lahti Fringe Festival has gathered a vast amount of different art genres both from Finland and abroad. The event has presented artists from multiple countries including Australia, China, United States, and many countries from different parts of Europe. Because of Covid-19, the event has been organized with special arrangements, and in 2020 the festival had to cancel all international shows.
The Lahti Fringe Festival team will inform later about the future of the festival.
]]>So what is public arts? Simply put it is art that is on display in public spaces. The art can be either permanent or just temporary; statues, sculptures, murals, street art, performances, paintings, monuments, light-, sound- or environmental art, nearly anything. Public arts can be acquired in many ways: through portfolio search, through parallel draft orders, open competitions, invitational competitions, or direct orders from artists.
There are plenty of public art objects in Lahti. Travellers have a lot to see from the moment they arrive to the city. Across the street from the travel center The Mannerheim Equestrian Statue welcomes all visitors with open arms into the beautiful city of Lahti. On Rautatienkatu you will meet the Steel Grandmas; Rietriikka, Emoliina, Eleanor ja Let’s Dance Martha. Aleksanterinkatu’s sheep shaped concrete traffic barriers will bring a smile to the visitor’s face and brighten up the street view of the city center. There is something to everyone in Lahti. If you don’t get excited about statues, you can admire the beautiful murals located all over the Lahti area, like for example the Reliefi on Saimaankatu or the Block Party -mural on the Malski area. From Pikku-Vesijärvi park you will find the Vesiurut (water organ) through which you can experience enchanting sound art twice a day. On dark autumn nights Vesiurut turns also into a light art when different colored lights are reflected from the pool during the show.
If you’re interested in exploring more of the city’s public art, here are a few tips on places definitely worth a visit:
- Vapaudenpatsas, Lahti City Hall Park, Viktor Jansson, 1921
- Hellä Kivi, Lanu Park, Olavi Lanu, 1992
- Jari Litmasen patsas, Kisapuisto, Reijo Huttu, 2010
- Lehmus, Lanun aukio, Olavi Lanu, 1985
- The mural of Mukkula, Ritaniemenkatu 5b wall, Messy Desk, 2017
- Mäkihyppääjä, Lahti Stadium, Vesa Ekholm, 2017
- Troijan Hevonen, intersection of Satamakatu and Vesijärvenkatu, Mauno Hartman, 1999
- Eteenpäin, museum area of Radiomäki, Aimo Taleva, 1974
- Golden Goose -pesimäalue, Rautatienkatu 18 (premises and light post), Miss Kompro & Ihana Havo, 2018
- Kylän portti, Viiskulma Art Square, Akseli Leinonen 202i
]]>
The journey to become European Green Capital started in the 1970’s. Back then the city started their water conservation work when they stopped discharging wastewaters into lake Vesijärvi. Over the decades there has been major environmental acts done in Lahti for cleaner nature. The Vesijärvi project can be cited as an example; the decades of work for the conservation and restoration of Lake Vesijärvi have brought important environmental expertise into the city.
The city of Lahti has a shared vision for the green city’s future and bold climate targets for realizing the vision. The city aims to be carbon neutral by the year 2025, ten years before the target set by the Finnish Government and 25 years before the EU. The city also aims to cut down their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 % compared to the level of 1990 by the year 2025.
Did you know that Lahti Fringe Festival is part of the official programme of European green capital? At our event the environmental theme comes to the fore in the content of the presentations and in our operations. The venues are located in the city centre area in walking distance from each other, so the visitors are able to participate to the festival in carbon free way. We are also taking care of recycling at the venues so that there will not be any useless extra waste. One way to bring up the environmental responsibility is online streaming of the performances. This way we can get the international performers to join us without any travel emissions.
You can join the makers! At greenlahti.fi/en/participate you will find tips for different environmental acts that you can implement on your everyday life.
See you in September in an environmentally friendly atmosphere at the Lahti Fringe Festival!
]]>We welcome both veterans and new artists of the industry to join us in making the Lahti Fringe Festival into a celebration of the arts. The festival will again be held in the city centre area of Lahti and as usual the venues varies between traditional theatre stages and more eccentric premises.
You can sign up as a performer via the link https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/EC250AB1EABDF8C8
Please notice that this artist call is only for local artists, the international artist call has ended for this year.
The Lahti Fringe Festival team will be in contact with all who have send their application.
]]>We are proud to inform that 46 countries were represented on this years artist call, among them Canada, Hong Kong and Australia. The most popular genres were yet again dance, performances and theatre.
The local artist call starts on 15th of February and Lahti Fringe festival will take place on 1st-4th of September.
Lahti Fringe Festival team would like to thank all the artists who sent their applications for the fourth Lahti Fringe Festival. We will be in touch soon. You are awesome!
]]>Pohjoismaisen Fringe-verkoston eli Nordic Fringe Networkin hakuun on perinteisesti tullut satoja hakemuksia eri puolilta maailmaa. Mukana 15.1.2021 asti kestävässä artistihaussa on kuusi eri Fringe-festivaalia Pohjoismaista. Yhdellä hakemuksella esiintyjä voi siis hakea mukaan paitsi Suomessa järjestettäviin Lahden ja Turun Fringe-festivaaleihin, myös Ruotsin Göteborgiin ja Tukholmaan, sekä Reykjavikiin ja Norjan Bergeniin.
Hakulomake: https://bit.ly/3f3UBUX
Ohjeet lomakkeen täyttämiseen: https://bit.ly/3pz0ZIj
Tietopaketti artistihausta: https://bit.ly/2H994lU
Lahti Fringe Festival will be held between 1st and 4th of September 2021 and the call for new international artists is now open. The third edition of Lahti Fringe last autumn had to be downsized because of Covid-19 pandemic and all the international shows had to be cancelled. Almost 20 international artists were interested to reschedule their trip and join Lahti Fringe Festival program in 2021, but there is also room for new talents!
The international artist call of Nordic Fringe Network has usually gathered several hundred applications from all around the world. The call is open until 15th of January 2021 and there are six Fringe Festivals as part of it: Lahti Fringe and FinFringe in Finland, Gothenburg and Stockholm from Sweden, Reykjavik from Iceland and Bergen from Norway. So, as they say: 1 application form = a world of gig opportunities!
Fill in the form: https://bit.ly/3f3UBUX
Download the application dummy sheet: https://bit.ly/3pz0ZIj
Read the general artist guidelines: https://bit.ly/2H994lU
So, with heavy hearts we announce that this years Lahti Fringe Festival will not be an international art festival. We cannot expect artists to come here to spend two weeks in quarantine and perform to half-empty halls because of safety regulations. There just is no point in that.
Still, we are not giving up, instead we will return to our roots and focus on Finnish performances and make a smaller scale festival with local artists. The safety of people will be taken into consideration in every aspect of our event and we will follow all regulations and guidelines of authorities. We will inform later how these regulations will affect our event.
– Lahti Fringe Festival Team
Photo of Lahti by Antti Mäkijärvi.
]]>1. Watch sports… or attend the competitions yourself!
Be it triathlon race, ski marathon or the toughest 400 meter run of your life, Lahti is the place to visit for sport events. The city of Lahti hosts many international sport events, for example Red Bull 400 and Nokian Tyres IRONMAN 70.3. You are free to test your strength… but we also offer nice spots for audience!
Check all the events: https://visitlahti.fi/en/events
2. It’s uphill and downhill in Lahti
Lahti is located alongside Salpausselkä Ridge, which gives some unique shape to the downtown of city. Be prepared to climb a hill or two when you roam across the city. The ridge shape also has its benefits, as the city landmark Ski Jump Hills have been constructed alongside the ridge.
More information about nature: https://www.lahti.fi/en/information-about-lahti/green-capital/nature
3. Lahti is the European Green Capital 2021
Lahti has gained international recognition for its dedicated environmental development and adapting to sustainable way of growing. Political commitment, ambitious strategic goals and long-term practical environmental activities were emphasized as Lahti applied the competition in 2019 and won the title of European Green Capital 2021.
All about this success story: https://greenlahti.fi/
4. City of Beer and Bread
What more can a person need? The giant among bakeries in the region, Fazer Mills, grinds more than half of the rye cultivated in Finland and the largest malting plant of Finland, Viking Malt, is located in Lahti. The roots of beer city go back a long way – three million litres of beer were being produced per year in Lahti as early as 1916.
Take a closer look: https://www.e-julkaisu.fi/lahti/lahti-my-city/
5. Combine swimming and ski jumping
Did we already mention ski jumping? As the hills tower over the city landscape, it is only natural to take a closer look at them. During summer an outdoor swimming pool is opened in the most curious of places – in the landing slope of the largest hill. There is possibility of summer training sessions in the smaller hills, so watch athletes as you swim around.
Can this actually be true? Yes, it is! https://www.lahti.fi/en/latest-updates/news/the-outdoor-swimming-pool-offers-a-perfect-setting-for-water-sports
]]>
The artist call was truly a global phenomenon, as over 40 different countries were represented, among them Australia, South Africa and United States of America. The most popular genres were dance, theatre and performances.
The local artist call will start on Valentine’s Day, 14th of February and Lahti Fringe Festival will take place during 2nd-5th of September.
Lahti Fringe Festival team would like to thank all the artists who send their applications for the third Lahti Fringe Festival. We will be in touch soon. You are amazing!
]]>Paikallisten artistien, jotka eivät halua lähteä Lahtea pidemmälle, kannattaa odottaa paikallisen artistihaun alkua, joka starttaa heti ensi vuoden puolella.
Lahti Fringe järjestetään 2.-5.9.2020 eri puolilla Lahden keskustaa.
Hakulomake: https://forms.gle/rDp6MoW3APAdCHf47
Hakuohjeet (PDF): https://bit.ly/33ohPhC
The third edition of Lahti Fringe Festival is part of Nordic Fringe Network international artist call. The call is open for a month and it covers seven festivals in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Particularly the autumn Fringe festivals in Lahti, Gothenburg, Bergen and Stockholm create an amazing opportunity to take a tour via Nordics.
The local artists, who do not wish to go any further can wait for the local artist call, which starts at the beginning of next year.
Lahti Fringe Festival will be organized between 2nd and 5th of September 2020 around the city centre.
Application form: https://forms.gle/rDp6MoW3APAdCHf47
Artist Guidelines (PDF): https://bit.ly/33ohPhC