Kipinä Festival cancelled after organiser and stadium owner fail to agree

Kipinä Festival will not be held next summer at Oulunkylä Football Stadium in Helsinki after organiser United Festivals and stadium owner IF Gnistan failed to agree on the terms of a new arrangement, Yle reports.

The festival was due to take place in July. United Festivals board chairman Henri Kulmala said just under 1,000 tickets had already been sold. Buyers will receive refunds, he said.

The two parties had a two-year agreement, which has now expired. Kulmala said they had agreed to negotiate an extension lasting several years but failed to reach an outcome that supported continued cooperation.

IF Gnistan chief executive Ilkka Vanala said the breakdown was partly unexpected. He said the dispute involved money, but also differing views of the festival’s importance and overall significance to the two parties.

Vanala said cooperation with United Festivals had gone well. The event had been financially successful in both years, and about 10,000 people attended each day of the two-day festival.

Kulmala also described the festival as a success, saying both audiences and artists had been satisfied.

IF Gnistan is considering organising a similar event at the stadium next summer, although no decision has been made. Vanala said the club was prepared to act quickly, noting that the festival was announced for the following summer just months after a major fire at the club in summer 2024.

United Festivals is also planning an event of a similar size in Helsinki. Kulmala said several parties had contacted the company about organising an event at their venues or in cooperation with them.

The name Kipinä Festival is jointly owned, meaning neither party can organise an event under that name without the other’s consent. Vanala said the word “Kipinä” is strongly associated with Gnistan, as it is the club’s nickname and means “spark” in Finnish.