An alternative music and arts event, Varjovirta Festival, began in Helsinki on Friday with a march opposing the Flow Festival and its alleged links to Israel through its ownership and sponsors.
The gathering at Dallapénpuisto marked the start of a weekend of events organised under the Flow Strike campaign, which urges artists and audiences to boycott Flow. About 60–70 people joined the opening procession, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting slogans such as “We are people, we will not be silent, blood money must end.”
Police monitored the event, with several vans and officers present. The march, accompanied by drumming and a loudspeaker mounted on a tricycle, proceeded through the Kallio district, stopping at Piritori for speeches. Chalk messages on the pavement called for the liberation of Gaza and a cultural sector free from genocide and colonialism.
Iiris Laisi, 26, a member of the Flow Strike working group, told participants the festival offered a positive alternative to “a mass event tied to genocide and colonialism.” She criticised the framing of the Israel–Palestine conflict as overly complex, saying this diverted attention from core issues. Laisi urged pressure on Flow and its majority owner, US investment firm KKR, rather than on individual artists.
Participant Elsa Muhonen, 26, said her motivation was to oppose the killing of innocent people and to encourage scrutiny of companies’ ties before making purchases. She said Finland could function without cooperation with Israel.
The march caused some disruption to traffic on Sörnäisten rantatie, with police directing vehicles as demonstrators moved along the road. It ended back at Dallapénpuisto in the evening.
The following day, Varjovirta continued with live performances and art. Around 200 people gathered by early evening for a programme including music, dance and spoken word. Some attendees expressed mixed feelings about the boycott, with one citing Flow ticket prices rather than politics as a deciding factor, and another saying they supported Palestine but were unsure Flow’s ties were greater than other events.
Palestinian artist Eugenie Touma van der Meulen performed spoken word pieces and said criticism of boycotts as inconsistent was “whataboutism” intended to avoid the main issue. She called for focus on Flow’s role, saying Palestinians were used to their activism being underestimated.
Flow Strike organisers say funds raised at Varjovirta will support both Palestinian aid efforts and artists who have chosen to boycott Flow. Some acts scheduled for Flow, such as Pehmoaino and Melo, have said they would cancel if not bound by contractual penalties, though Flow organisers have questioned whether such clauses exist.
Flow Festival’s artistic director Tuomas Kallio has called the boycott campaign “nonsense,” accusing it of spreading false claims. He said links between Flow and Israel were minimal and that similar connections existed throughout the music industry. Kallio added that Flow would proceed as planned, despite similar campaigns emerging against other European festivals.
Flow was acquired by UK-based Superstruct Entertainment in 2018. In 2024, Superstruct was purchased by KKR, whose investments include some in Israel. Critics have also pointed to Flow sponsors such as Heineken and Google, both of which operate in Israel.
HT
