The Finnish jazz scene is surprisingly vibrant but usually only in bigger cities like Helsinki, Turku and Tampere promoters book international acts. The market is small and audiences as well. Generally speaking at indoor venues the gigs with European artists attract ca. 50-250 listeners. They can be heard in about ten clubs and about same amount of festivals. More chances are at concert halls and cultural centres should the act be of a more commercial status attracting more than 200 listeners. The concerts halls are supported by the cities and therefore financially quite stable while clubs tend to be in independent hands relying on ticket sales.
Jazz print media is non-existent but there are some online magazines and blogs. In radio few programs are dedicated to jazz and they draw good attention specially among the younger audiences.
Jazz in still a genre that does not blend much with other music styles live. Jazz clubs book jazz, even specialize to certain styles, and jazz festivals mainly jazz still. At a few indie festivals (e.g. Flow Festival) you can hear young and popular jazz acts, those who are visible in main media and successful at charts.
In general Finland is an active jazz country with lots of talent, jazz education, international collaborations, albums being released and many venues booking jazz but international artists struggle with logistics as Finland is far from the continental Europe and travel costs tend to be high, after pandemic more than before even. Touring at festivals is very difficult but outside summer period festivals some venues can be compiled into small indoor tours.
Guide compiled by Jazz Finland