Ticket sales and registration are now open for Helsinki Design Week events

Helsinki Design Week takes over Helsinki from 28 August to 6 September. The 2026 theme, The Oncoming Other, invites visitors to experience encounters and shared urban spaces. The festival week marks the beginning of a two-year collaboration with the City of Helsinki to revitalize the city centre. Ticket sales and registration for festival events are now open.

Towards a more vibrant city centre

Helsinki Design Week launches a two-year project to revitalize Helsinki’s city centre with a seminar at the Event Square in Helsinki City Hall on 1 September 2–4 pm. The free seminar is open to everyone interested in the topic.

For decades, city centres have been built around retail, offices and public infrastructure. Digital commerce, remote work, changing consumer habits and new ways of living are challenging this established model.

A vibrant city centre cannot be created simply by developing streets, squares and parks. We must also ask what happens to ground-floor commercial spaces as banks, clothing stores and other traditional services disappear. Helsinki Design Week brings together experts in urban planning, business, design and culture to explore new solutions for the future of the city. The seminar is free and open to all.

The theme will also be explored at HDW Lab, located at the corner of Kluuvikatu and Aleksanterinkatu. Festival visitors can explore the future of the city centre in collaboration with the City of Helsinki, WSP, Silt and CoPlanAI on 2–4 September. Registration for the workshops opens in week 35.

Design Market, PechaKucha Night and ticket sales

The festival week kicks off with Design Market, which this year offers more than incredible warehouse sale finds. Design Market Workshops invite visitors to learn hands-on skills from professionals in the field, with workshops ranging from drawing to textile repair techniques and a new life for old clothes. No previous experience is required. 

One of Helsinki Design Week’s most anticipated events, PechaKucha Night, will take place at the prestigious Finnish House of Nobility on 4 September. Speakers include Paris-based designer Marianna Ladreyt, who works at the intersection of furniture, object and fashion design, and Helsinki-based restaurateur Laura Styyra, known for the restaurant Kuurna.

Ticket sales for Design Market Workshops and PechaKucha Night are now open. Tickets are available here.

Open Studios, Design Diplomacy and registration

Curious city dwellers, design professionals and students will be treated to a guided Open Studios tour this year (28 August and 4 September). Open Studios offers opportunities to get inspired by and explore studios across different fields of design. You can explore the participating studios in advance. Register for the guided tour via this form. Studios can also be visited independently during the afternoon without any prior registration.

The countries and speakers taking part in Design Diplomacy have now been announced on the event page. At the Residence of the Embassy of Ireland, Studio Saol’s Creative Director Brett O’Mahony will meet Finnish photographic artist Ananya Tanttu. At the Embassy of Belgium, Flemish artist Nel Verbeke, whose work explores emotions, will meet Sini Rinne-Kanto, a curator, researcher and doctoral researcher specialising in post-war design history. Design Diplomacy events are free of charge but require registration.

Helsinki Design Week 28.8.–6.9.2026