How to organize an event at Helsinki Design Week

These instructions have been created based on the City of Helsinki’s instructions.

With the new decision of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland, as of 20 August, public events and public meetings may be organised with a maximum of 25 persons indoors and 50 persons in delineated outdoor areas. For Helsinki Design Week, safety is paramount. Please take this into account as you plan your event.

Read more about the regulations by the Regional State Administrative Agency for Souther Finland here. (in Finnish)

You may not attend any public event, gathering or space if you are having symptoms of illness. Each participant is responsible for their own safety. The event organizer should remind the participants about health issues through as many channels as possible before and during the event (website, social media, ticket sales and arrival at the event).

Physical contact is to be avoided

Coronavirus mainly spreads through droplets. Ensure the possibility to maintain safe distance in order to avoid person-to-person contact. It is a good idea to limit the number of attendants so that people can participate at 1–2 metres distance.

In bigger events, safety distance can be created with screen walls or plexiglass between tables. In addition, trained security guards and the festival staff will be controlling the distances as necessary. You will want to invest in sufficient staff and their training because of this exceptional situation. If queues appear, you will need to remind and help people maintain safe distances. You will want to schedule the event so that there is no risk of overcrowding at entrance or exit, by arranging as many entrance and exit routes as possible and by taking enough space for them. Queueing for food, drink and toilets must be organized to maintain safe distances.

These instructions are from the City of Helsinki webpage. Read more here.

Serving food

We recommend selling only pre-packed food and easy-to-hand takeaway products. If you want to offer unpacked food from a cart, for example, you must have the food ready and portioned for each particular person. We recommend not to use the same serving utensils repeatedly.

Payments

Avoid exchanging cash as far as possible. If people are to pay on location, we recommend using card and proximity payment, mobile pay and other contactless ways of paying. The payment terminals are to be cleaned and disinfected more than usual.

Hand-washing and responsible coughing will prevent infections.Hand sanitation points are to be placed at entrance and exit routes, and the area is to include several hand-washing facilities equipped with disposable paper towels.

Cleaning

Coronavirus mainly spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is possible for the virus to spread through touching another person. However, the virus does not stay infectious for a ling time in the air or on a surface. Use a mildly alkaline multi-purpose cleaner and in sanitary facilities, a disinfectant to enhance cleaning. When cleaning, please pay special attention to the surfaces being touched, such as door handles, counter tops, light switches and taps.

Avoid sharing computers and terminals during the event.

Infections and exposure

If a virus infection is noticed during a public event or gathering:

Tracking the infection chain is a task of a municipal or district doctor in charge of infectious diseases. The epidemiologic operations unit of the City of Helsinki can be emailed at tartuntataudit@hel.fi.

Please also inform us about the exposure at communications@helsinkidesignweek.com.

If an event participant is found to be infected with coronavirus:

• Contact the epidemiologic operations unit of the City of Helsinki to track the infection chain.
• Find out if exposure has happened (e.g. ticket sales information or other personal and contact data collected (voluntary basis and GDPR).
• According to the Finnish Communicable Diseases Act, a municipal or district doctor in charge of infectious diseases may order a quarantine of 14 days for the exposed person.

By limiting the number of participants in public events and by avoiding mixing different groups, it is possible to reduce the number of persons exposed to coronavirus.

Communications

Communications should be paid special attention to so that all event participants can feel safe to attend. Communications should occupy as many channels as possible before, during and after the event. In addition, it is a good idea to create new and utilize existing Q&A lists.

Cancellation

If for some reason you need to cancel your event, please immediately update this information at the Helsinki Design Week website. Write PERUTTU before the Finnish title and CANCELLED before the English title of the event. E.g. “CANCELLED Exhibition at Showroom”. Make sure that the information is found in social media and Facebook events, too.

Please inform us about the cancellation so that we know to update our other communication channels. You can email us at communications@helsinkidesignweek.com.

Cancellation policy 2021

Because of the pandemic, our cancellation policy is flexible in 2021.

Design Market 10–12 September 2021

Due to the new restrictions by the Regional State Administrative Agency, the Helsinki Design Week main event including the Design Market at Glasshouse Helsinki is cancelled. There will not be any fees regarding the lease of the selling stand.

Cancellation terms and conditions: The registration to the in store and online Design Market is binding. The registration fee will be refunded only if the Regional State Administrative Agency orders a curfew for 10–12 September. By registering you accept these terms and conditions. Unfortunately Helsinki Design Week is not able to lease a stand or provide an online store platform.

Open Call for Helsinki Design Week events 9–19 September 2021

Cancellation terms and conditions: You may have canceled your application for an online event until 18 June 2021 and for a physical event until 5 August 2021. If Finnish authorities prohibit all physical events in Helsinki between 9 and 19 September 2021, your participation fee will be reimbursed in full also after 5 August 2021.