Flow Festival was created by the Finnish music producer Tuomas Kallio and his friends from the Helsinki-based music collective
Nuspirit Helsinki. The organizers' goal was to offer something new to the Finnish music and urban scene. Since 2004, Flow Festival has been organized annually during the first weeks of August. During its history of over 10 years, Flow Festival has been organized in three different locations. The event has grown from a relatively small soul & jazz club event into a significant Northern European music and arts festival with an evergrowing international interest.
2004 Starting under the Flow, the inaugural festival consisted of two nights at an indoor club in the now destroyed
VR warehouses in downtown Helsinki with a capacity of around 2000. The inaugural event's line-up was heavily focused on jazz and soul. Performances included those of
Marlena Shaw,
Ty,
Nuspirit Helsinki,
The Five Corners Quintet,
Norman Jay,
Jazzanova,
Bugz in the Attic and
Nicola Conte.
2005 In its second year, the line-up artists of Flow Festival 2005 included
Omar,
Husky Rescue,
Marva Whitney and
Mark Murphy.
2006 The third festival in order, Flow Festival 2006 moved northwards from downtown Helsinki to Kaikukatu in
Sörnäinen. The line-up included
José González,
Gravenhurst,
Candi Staton,
TV-Resistori and
Aavikko.
2007 performing 2007. In 2007, the festival changed its official name to the current form of Flow Festival. The event also moved to its current location in Suvilahti's industrial area in Helsinki. The Flow Festival 2007 line-up included
Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators,
Architecture in Helsinki,
Op:l Bastards,
Risto,
Jori Hulkkonen,
Pepe Deluxé,
Terry Callier and
The Valkyrians.
2008 The 2008 line-up included
Cut Copy,
Kings of Convenience,
Crystal Castles,
22-Pistepirkko,
The Roots,
Sébastien Tellier,
Múm and
Huoratron.
2009 The musical line-up consisted (among others) of
Lily Allen,
Kraftwerk,
Vampire Weekend,
Grace Jones,
White Lies,
Yann Tiersen,
Final Fantasy and
Fever Ray. During its four days, the evergrowing Flow Festival already gathered around 40,000 visitors. In 2009, Flow Festival won its first Music & Media Finland Festival of the Year award.
2010 The 2010 line-up consisted of artists such as
The Chemical Brothers,
LCD Soundsystem,
Big Boi,
Air,
M.I.A.,
Robyn,
The xx and
Beach House.
2011 performing 2011. Line-up included
Kanye West,
Röyksopp,
MF Doom,
Empire of the Sun,
Lykke Li,
Iron & Wine and
The Human League. Flow Festival was chosen as the Finnish Festival of the Year for the second time.
2012 Line-up in 2012 included
Björk,
Feist,
Bon Iver,
The Black Keys,
Lykke Li and
Yann Tiersen. Flow Festival was once again chosen as the Music & Media Finland's Finnish Festival of the Year.
2013 The 10th anniversary year's festival line-up saw performances from artists such as
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds,
Alicia Keys,
Kendrick Lamar,
Kraftwerk (the band's second Flow Festival appearance),
Public Enemy,
Cat Power,
The Knife,
My Bloody Valentine,
Beach House (also the band's second Flow appearance) and
Cody Chesnutt.
2014 This year's Flow Festival took place from 8 to 10 August 2014.
OutKast,
The National,
Bonobo,
Robyn with
Röyksopp,
Little Dragon,
Janelle Monáe,
Die Antwoord,
Blood Orange and
Slowdive.
2015 performing 2015. Line-up included
Pet Shop Boys,
Florence and the Machine,
Major Lazer,
Belle and Sebastian,
Seinabo Sey,
Foxygen,
Beck,
Róisín Murphy and
CHIC featuring
Nile Rodgers among others. The festival took place from 14 to 16 August 2015.
2016 In 2016 the festival took place from 12 to 14 August and the line-up included artists such as
Iggy Pop,
Jamie xx,
Chvrches,
Sia,
M83 and
New Order.
2017 performs during the 2017 edition of the festival. In 2017 the festival was held from 11 to 13 August and the line-up consisted of artists like
Lana Del Rey,
London Grammar,
Roy Ayers,
Skott,
the XX,
Alma,
Frank Ocean,
Aphex Twin.
2018 The 2018 edition of Flow was held from 10 to 12 August. The 2018 festival was headlined by
Patti Smith,
Arctic Monkeys and
Kendrick Lamar.
2019 The 2019 Flow Festival took place on the 9 to 11 August 2019. The line-up included
The Cure,
Tame Impala,
Robyn,
Modeselektor and
Mitski.
2020 Flow Festival 2020 was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. == Awards ==