Year: 2018

As of this May, visitors to the Finnish capital will be served by Tourist Information at two new locations. Tourist Information will focus even more on digital services and face-to-face interactions. Other seasonal services for visitors will also begin at the start of May.

In addition to Helsinki Region Tourist Information at Helsinki Airport, tourist information services will be available at the Central Railway Station and inside Stockmann’s department store beginning this May. The main Tourist Information office that has been located for the past fifty years on the Esplanade will move to the ticket hall of the historic Central Railway Station. The current office on the corner of Pohjoisesplanadi and Unioninkatu will remain open as normal until Sunday 22 April.

In addition to the new office at the Central Railway Station, a MyHelsinki service point will be set up inside Stockmann’s department store in the city centre. The new service point will offer digital services for finding information, as well as maps and brochures.

The new locations will open in May. During the move, Tourist Information services will be available from Virka Info inside City Hall.

“Visitors rely on the internet these days to search for information, so the needs for traditional tourist information services have changed. At the same time, personal recommendations and face-to-face interactions are still a vital part of the visitor experience. Our new locations will help us serve visitors even better in the places where they are most likely to have questions,” says Laura Aalto, CEO of Helsinki Marketing.

Personal recommendations also digitally and courtesy of Helsinki Helpers

Helsinki Marketing has taken major steps in the development of digital services for visitors. The award-winning MyHelsinki.fi website serves visitors in six languages, and all the content is based on local recommendations. In addition, services for Chinese visitors are also being developed in collaboration with Tencent, one of the world’s biggest digital service providers.

Visitors to Helsinki in summertime are also served on the streets of the city by the Helsinki Helpers in their easily identifiable green jackets. This year they will begin their season already in May. In addition, tourist information will still be available in the historic centre of Helsinki during the summer season at the convenient Info Container by the Market Square. The Info Container will serve visitors next to the Havis Amanda fountain starting from Thursday 3 May.

Tourist Information premises on the Esplanade now available to new tenants

Following the move to the Central Railway Station, the Tourist Information premises on the Esplanade will be available to new tenants. The Tori Quarters commercial district is currently looking for a suitable business for the premises, which occupy a prime location in the historic city centre.

“The Tourist Information office on the corner of Pohjoisesplanadi and Unioninkatu is without doubt one of the most attractive premises in the city centre. The location welcomes visitors coming from the Esplanade Park and Market Square to the historic Tori Quarters. We are looking for an attractive business that could further enhance the diverse offerings in the Tori Quarters for locals and visitors alike,” says Peggy Bauer, Operative Director for the Tori Quarters commercial district.

The TMW pop-up bar that has become one of the most popular hotspots among the festival’s visitors in the last four years will again open its doors at the centrally located Design and Architecture Gallery. Renard Coffee Shop will offer a quality coffee from Scandinavia’s top micro-roasteries and culinary duo Raba Peet will take care of the taste experiences.

Keit Lillemäe, one of the founders of Renard Coffee Shop, a small coffee bar with a big spirit that operated near Telliskivi Creative City until January of this year, promises to create a lovely meeting place for the festival’s visitors: “TMW has always been a very inspirational festival for me. This time, the expectations are especially big and challenging. Together with my sister Kadi Maidre as the culinary duo Raba Peet we promise that nobody shall leave the cafe with an empty stomach.”

In addition to the pop-up bar, there are 25 eating and drinking spots in the TMW restaurants selection which offer special TMW menus carefully crafted by their head chefs as well as special offers to the owners of the festival passes.

Among others, the restaurants presented include the pre-eminent plant-based restaurant Von Krahli AED, healthy vegan buffet BlissTray, cozy cake shop & cafe Ristikheina Kohvik, brasserie restaurant and Golden Era-style cocktail bar Tabac, creative “fusion-confusion” restaurant Kolm Sibulat, coffee pantry KOKOMO and a unique beer shop TapTap at Rotermann Quarter, restaurant Korsten, Armastus ja Hea Toit based at the Tallinn Creative Hub, and restaurant Sfäär with rooms inspired by the aesthetic universe of Estonian artist Tõnis Vint.

As part of the TMW and in cooperation with the Estonian Refugee Council, there will be cooking workshops followed by dinners “Let’s get to know each other!” held in the demo kitchen at Balti Station Market. Knowledgeable nutritionists can participate in sustainable brunches by Korilase Köök and fans of the Latin American kitchen can join home dinners “Taco night with Mexicans”.

All TMW 2018 passes include special offers at the TMW Tastes restaurants. Clients of festival’s presenter Telia get a 20% discount on all pre-sale tickets and passes.

The project “Let’s get to know each other!” is financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Estonian Ministry of the Interior.

Additional information:
tmw.ee/festival/tastes

Musiikki on etenkin nykyaikana paljon enemmän kuin pelkkiä säveliä. Bändien ja artistien ympäriltä löytyy yhtä sun toista oheistuotetta aina erilaisista fanituotteista nimikkojuomiin ja toimintafiguureihin. Onpa joistakin aikojemme merkittävimmistä yhtyeistä ja legendaarisimmista artisteista tehty elokuviakin. Aivan oma lukunsa ovat musiikin ja bändien maailmasta tehdyt pelit, jotka ovat hieno tapa tehdä kunniaa loistavalle musiikille.

Kitaran varteen Guitar Hero ja Rock Band -peleissä

Hyvin toteutettujen pelien siivellä pääsee paitsi maistamaan aitoa rock-tunnelmaa, myös nauttimaan suosikkiyhtyeensä musiikista. Pelit voivat myös tarjota mahdollisuuden olla tähtenä bändin riveissä – tällainen peli on esimerkiksi todella suosittu The Beatles: Rock Band. PlayStation 3:lle, Wii:lle ja Xbox 360:lle vuonna 2009 julkaistu peli pitää sisällään 45 The Beatlesin kappaletta, joita pelaajat pääsevät soittamaan sekä laulamaan yksin tai porukalla. Rock Band -pelisarjaan kuuluu myös samaan henkeen kasattu laatupeli Green Day -yhtyeestä.

Klassikkobändit mukana kolikkopeleissä

Myös netin kasinoilla on useita musiikkiaiheisia videokolikkopelejä, joita pelaamalla pääset sukeltamaan esimerkiksi Motörheadin ja Guns N’ Rosesin maailmaan. Kummatkin pelit ovat nettikasinoalan valmistajajätti NetEntin käsialaa ja ne on julkaistu vuonna 2017.

Asennetta näistä peleistä ei totisesti puutu – taidolla toteutettua Guns N’ Roses -kolikkopeliä pelatessaan voi miltei tuntea olevansa mukana jollakin yhtyeen legendaarisista ja ylistetyistä keikoista eikä Motörheadin nimikkopeli jää vertailussa huonommalle sijalle sekään. Riippuneekin ennen kaikkea omasta musiikkimausta, kumman pelin puikoissa on parempi meininki!

Peliseikkailua rankalla heavy metal -mausteella

Perinteisempää seikkailupeliä kaipaavat metallin ystävät nauttivat taatusti vuonna 2009 julkaistusta Brütal Legend -pelistä. PlayStation 3 ja Xbox 360 -konsoleille julkaistu strategia-seikkailupeli on Double Fine Productionsin kehittämä ja sen ääniraidalta löytyy 108 kappaleen verran metallimusiikkia aina Judas Priestista Ozzy Osbourneen. Pelissä vilisee myös genrestä tuttuihin legendoihin pohjautuvia hahmoja, jotka ovat tunnistettavuudessaan todella hauskoja. Ääninäyttelijöinä toimivat hahmojen esikuvat, muun muassa Motörhead-legenda Lemmy Kilmister. Pelivalmistajan mukaan huippusuositusta pelistä on vielä jossain vaiheessa luvassa jatko-osa ja sitä moni heavyn ystävä odottaakin kieli pitkällä kuin Gene Simmonsilla konsanaan.

Two Finnish special two-euro commemorative coins will be released in 2018. The theme of the special commemorative coin released in the spring will be Finnish National Landscape Koli and the autumn’s special coin will pay tribute to Finnish Sauna Culture. The launch of nine five-euro commemorative coins in honour of Finland’s National Landscapes is also in the works.

Finland’s national landscapes symbolise the Finnish character and have a generally recognised significance in Finland’s national culture, history and perception of nature. The total mintage of the special two-euro commemorative coins paying tribute to Koli National Park in North Karelia will be one million. Mint of Finland is also planning a 2018 release of nine commemorative coins themed around Finnish national landscapes. The nominal value of each base-metal commemorative coin will be five euros.

The first special two-euro commemorative coin to be released in 2018 will share its theme of Koli with the opening coin in the series of five-euro Finnish National Landscapes coins. In the summer of 2017, Mint of Finland coordinated an online poll in which the Finns voted for nine of their most beloved national landscapes to be featured on the commemorative coins. Koli National Park received the most votes in the poll.

The obverse of the Finnish National Landscapes Koli commemorative coin depicts the view from the summit of Koli, while the reverse bears an image of the map of Finland. The commemorative coin is designed by Erkki Vainio (obverse) and Mari Metso (reverse) on the basis of a photograph taken by Juha-Pekka Järvenpää.

The maximum mintages of commemorative coins released in the Finnish National Landscapes series will be 3,000 proof-quality coins and 15,000 UNC-quality coins per release.

The mintage of the Finnish Sauna Culture special two-euro commemorative coins released in the autumn of 2018 will be one million. The special commemorative coin is designed by Erkki Vainio.

Special two-euro commemorative coins can be obtained as change in regular circulation or purchased from the Mint of Finland online shop, www.mint.fi, and from retailers. Finnish National Landscapes commemorative coins will be available from the Mint of Finland online shop and the mint’s retailers.