Swedish Week is celebrated every year in November in connection with Finland Swedish Heritage Day, which falls on 6 November. The celebration seeks to draw attention to the many dynamic Swedish-language cultural offerings available in Finland.
– Finland has two national languages, Finnish and Swedish, and Helsinki is a bilingual city. As a matter of course, we want to celebrate our hometown’s diverse Swedish-language heritage and culture with a series of events during Swedish Week. Helsinki is becoming increasingly international, and more and more languages are being spoken in our streets, workplaces and schools. This does not however reduce the importance of Swedish or Finnish in Helsinki – besides, immigrants can choose to integrate in Swedish if they wish, says Juhana Vartiainen, Mayor of Helsinki.
Pupils to compete with teachers
For four years in a row now during Swedish Week, the city has organised a virtual quiz in Swedish. The contest’s engaging questions are related to Helsinki, and the attending programme will be broadcast on Helsinki Channel at 13.15–13.45 on 6 November. The quiz is primarily intended for pupils in the city’s lower secondary schools, and during the livestream, a team of teachers will compete against a team of pupils. Everyone can watch the entertaining competition – and participate interactively if they wish. Last year, the teacher team won; will the pupils take revenge this year? Instructions for participating virtually will be provided at the start of the programme.
In addition, Helsinki Art Museum HAM will organise free guided tours of the exhibition Tove Jansson – Paradise at 17.00 on Wednesday 6 November and 13.00 on Saturday 9 November. The guided tour in Swedish is included in the museum admission fee.
The city’s cultural centres will also arrange events during Swedish Week. Swedish-language concerts and film screenings will be organised at Vuotalo, while theatre performances can be seen at Malmitalo and Maunula House. Kanneltalo will arrange a cinema visit for schoolchildren.
Helsinki Central Library Oodi will offer a songwriting workshop in Swedish, author visits and a family-friendly carnival. Other libraries in the city will also celebrate Swedish Week.
Arbis, the Swedish-language Adult Education Centre in Helsinki, will organise a Swedish Day party coinciding with its 110th anniversary.
A detailed description (in Swedish) of the events that the City of Helsinki and other actors are putting on in Helsinki during Swedish Week can be found on the Swedish Week website under the headings Orter and Helsingfors.
A Career Day intended for recent arrivals to the country who have chosen to integrate in the Swedish language will also take place during Swedish Week on 4 November. In connection with the Career Day, a panel discussion will be organised and streamed live on the Helsinki Channel at 14.00. The event is organised collaboratively by Prakticum, Luckan Integration, Helsinki Arbis SFI, Arcada and Helsinki Employment Services.
