Nightwish singer’s departure draws international media to Kitee

More than 50 international media outlets have reported that Dutch singer Floor Jansen is leaving Nightwish, prompting journalists to seek information from the band’s exhibition centre in Kitee, Yle reported.

Coverage has included Chinese outlet Sohu, US publications Vice, Loudwire and Blabbermouth, Mexico’s El Informador, Japan’s Burrn and the UK’s Kerrang. Nightwish announced Jansen’s departure last week, prompting speculation about her successor.

Journalists from Finland and abroad have called the Kitee Exhibition Centre, which houses the A Nightwish Story exhibition. The city’s culture coordinator, Markus Pulkkinen, said the callers were reporters, not fans. He stressed that the centre has no information about the band’s future and that the exhibition documents its history.

The exhibition opened in Kitee in 2020 and features the band’s past recordings, instruments, awards, photographs, fan merchandise and stage props. Its visitor numbers have increased this year after it moved to new premises: more than 2,500 people have visited so far, compared with about 800 a year at the previous location. The exhibition aims to attract around 5,000 visitors annually.