In partnership with Flow Festival
Helsinki’s Flow Festival returned this weekend for its penultimate edition at the stunning Suvilahti venue in the city centre, bringing starts big and small from across the globe.
Headliners Blur, Lorde and WizKid were joined by the likes of Suede, Jockstrap, Pusha T, Caroline Polachek and more at a festival with wide-ranging appeal and a unique outlook.
If you weren’t there to enjoy the festivities, enjoy the story of Flow Festival 2023 with these stunning photos.
Day one: let’s get this party started
Flow 2023 was the festival’s penultimate edition to be held in the beautiful Suvilahti site in the middle of Helsinki, an abandoned power plant with awe-inspiring industrial structures.
Day one: Give it some welly, Brett
Suede’s Friday evening set saw Brett Anderson as a man possessed, rampaging across the stage and into the crowd, defying ageing and continuing the band’s beautiful renaissance.
Day one: hands up!
Another highlight of Friday came from Jockstrap, who debuted new music and showcased their Mercury-nominated debut album in the Black Tent.
Day one: WizKid’s on fire
For most of his headline set, WizKid was spraying the crowd with bottles of water from the stage, set against the ever-present pyro.
Day two: non-stop beats
Across the three-day festival, the Front Yard stage kept the beats rolling in a tucked away corner of the site, with help from stars of the house and techno scenes.
Day two: King Push takes his crown
In the cavernous Silver Arena on Saturday night, Pusha T brought his new album ‘It’s Almost Dry’ to Helsinki for a set of boundless energy and unrivalled flows.
Day two: Lorde enters a new era
During her headline set, Lorde swapped the sunny sonic aesthetics of ‘Solar Power’ for a return to her dancier, darker roots, interpolating her songs within one another and debuting two new tracks – this really was the start of a new era.
Day two: joyful punk chaos
An hour later in the Black Tent, Amyl & The Sniffers were looking for no such reinvention – their fantastically energetic, chaotic brand of Aussie punk works just fine, and they rang in Sunday morning with a messy, brilliant set.
Day three: homegrown
Among the large contingent of Finnish artists at the festival, rapper Sexmane was one of the most well-received, placing languid bars over arena-sized metal guitars and live drums.
Day three: hardcore comes to Finland
London’s High Vis shook the Black Tent to its foundations on Sunday afternoon, with their mix of hardcore and Britpop delighting the crowd, ending with chaotic scenes for the anthem ‘Trauma Bonds’.
Day three: Caroline from afar
Caroline Polachek’s early evening set on the final night was an artistic triumph, as she ran through highlights from her lauded second album.
Day three: high drama
Christine & the Queens’ Sunday night set was a thematic, moody masterpiece, drawing exclusively from his most recent album.
Day three: Damon’s got something to say
As their European festival tour wrapped up, Blur were beaming throughout their hit-packed Flow set to close the festival, sending Flow 2023 off with a raucous party.
Day three: ’til next time!
…and that’s that for 2023! See you in Suvilahti next year for one final dance?