Helsinki bin drummer Jarmo to receive tribute concert

Helsinki’s Night of the Arts will feature a tribute to Jarmo, a street drummer known for playing rubbish bins with drumsticks, Yle reports. Organisers hope to bring 100 drummers to the amphitheatre behind the Finnish National Opera on Thursday evening.

Jarmo has played the bins around Töölönlahti, particularly in Hesperia Park, for more than 10 years. He is a distinctive, colourful and visible figure whom many people recognise, although few know him personally. One of his rare interviews was given to Yle Helsinki in October 2016.

Professional drummers and members of the public will gather to play the bins and honour Jarmo’s work. Among the professional musicians expected to take part are Sami Kuoppamäki and Jaska Lukkarinen.

The communal drum piece will be performed four times during the evening, under the musical direction of Petri Sämpi from the music institute Resonaari. The organisers say the event is intended to bring together 100 drummers, in a similar spirit to Alexi Laiho’s 100 Guitars from Hel project and Lauri Porra’s Basso composition.

“I do not know how many of them will be able to play at the same time, but presumably the total of 100 will be reached during the evening,” says Teuvo Merkkiniemi, the event’s producer. Stara has promised to provide enough rubbish bins for the performance.

Jarmo has also agreed to attend. Yle was unable to interview him, but in a comment passed on by the organisers, he said he was surprised by the attention and considered the tribute a fine gesture.

Merkkiniemi, chief executive of the Hakaniemi-based organisation Pertin valinta, said distinctive figures such as Jarmo add layers and vitality to urban culture.

“The essence of a lively and diverse city is that different things happen on different levels. In my view, the kind of activity Jarmo engages in brings positive feelings and a sense of surprise to everyday city life,” he said.

The tribute concert begins at 18:00 on Thursday, August 20, at the amphitheatre behind the opera house. It is part of the Outsider Art Festival programme, which is a partner festival of the Helsinki Festival.

The original idea for honouring Jarmo came from the cultural cooperative Creat, which awarded him a recognition prize in December 2024 for enlivening Helsinki’s streetscape.