Annikki Poetry Festival 2026

The Annikki Poetry Festival will be held in the courtyard of the Annikki Wooden Quarter in Tampere, Finland, on 6 June 2026 from 11 am to 10 pm. The festival will celebrate Finland’s linguistic diversity and international atmosphere with the theme 'Babel Finland'.

The programme will shed light on the great cultural wealth and diversity of experiences that various language areas and traditions have brought to Finnish poetry, literature and culture. As always, the festival present a rich programme of outstanding Finnish and international poetry performers, prose, music, programme for children, visual art, a festival park with free programme, a after party, a book bazaar, and much more — all within the unique festival setting of the over 100-year-old Annikki Wooden Quarter

The perfomers are Ánnámáret, Hassan Blasim, Monika Fagerholm, Hilja Grönfors, Satu Kankaanpää & Juhana Salonen, Daniil Kozlov, Kölö & Satu Kae, Katariina Lillqvist, Ox Maló (AR/AT), Tania Nathan & Sointi Jazz Ensemble, Nihkee & Saarten tyttäret, Risto Rasa, Regina Roze (MX), The Shameless Shongololo Band, Vy Tram, Tenzin Tsundue (IN/Tibet), Tomas Venclova (LT) and Suvi West. Check out the festival schedule!

The linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the performers represent the wide range of languages in Finland: Finnish, Swedish, Sami, Romani, Finnish Sign Language, Arabic, Russian, Vietnamese, Swahili and English. There will also be multilingual performances and wild combinations of languages. International performers will add the Lithuanian, Spanish and Tibetan languages to the mix.

The title artist of the festival, Katariina Lillqvist is a film director, writer and cultural figure known as the pioneer of puppet animation in Finland. Working together with Hilja Grönfors, she will add a strong touch of the Romani culture to the event. The festival will also give attention to two murals on the walls of adjacent buildings close to the venue: Villiomenapuu (Wild Apple Tree) is dedicated to poet Kirsi Kunnas, and Runopuu (Tree of Poetry) honours the work of poet Mirkka Rekola. Together, they form a combination of poetry and visual arts that is unique of its kind in Finland.

The amount of free programme offered by the Annikki Poetry Festival will increase significantly. The previous poetry festival attracted a record number of guests, causing occasional congestion. Due to this, the park located next to the wooden quarter will now house not only restaurant services but also the book bazaar and children’s programme, which were previously located in the courtyard. The Annikki festival park is a free area open to everyone, and it will offer entertainment throughout the day, including the Viitapiiri association’s open mic for poets.In 2003, the residents of the Annikki Wooden Quarter in Tampere, built over 100 years ago, founded a poetry event in their yard. Since then, the Annikki Poetry Festival has developed into one of Finland’s biggest and most international poetry events and unique cultural festivals. The artistic director of the event is the poet J.K. Ihalainen. The poetry festival is organised by volunteers every two years.