As a first-time visitor to Helsinki, I’ve heard the buzz around Finland’s capital: Flow Festival Helsinki is back with none other than Björkclosing the show on August 12.
As one of the most anticipated festivals on this or any side of the Baltic, it has a killer line-up with big-name American artists like The Black Keys and Bon Iver, as well as Swedish sensations Lykke Li andMiike Snow and a long list of Finnish bands I can’t wait to check out.
There’s also a wide range of art, architecture showcases, an urban garden, discussions with artists, a variety of delicious food vendors and, of course, plenty of tasty beverages.
In preparing for such a multi-faceted festival, I was worried that I would have to print out my line-up, a map and be that sad tourist fumbling through a ridiculous amount of paper.
Thanks to Nokia, the main sponsor at Flow, I won’t have to.
Nokia x Flow
The Nokia x Flow app keeps me up to date on all the happenings at Flow.
The best part? It’s available for every major phone operating system!
The main menu is easy to navigate and has artist info, Flow news, a photo gallery, what’s going on around you and, most importantly, a customisable schedule.
The schedule lists all the stages and artist line-ups by the hour so you will always know where to be.
Just click on an artist’s name and press the star on their page and they’ll be added to your personal schedule. You’ll receive a warning 15 minutes before the show begins.
If you don’t want the updates, no sweat. You can change your settings by clicking the three lines that appear in the upper right hand corner of your screen.
You can also get up-to-date information on schedule changes and other cool events under the news tab, including transport information.
Around You
The “Around You” section is another cool feature.
This lets you know about all the art and design aspects of the festival, the food and drink options, the sponsor offers and the weekend’s talks.
There is also a list of official and unofficial after parties with all the information you need to keep rocking out well into the morning.
You can take photos and upload them to the app to share your experiences at the festival.
All in all, this is a very useful tool and a great companion for all festival-goers. Hope to see you there! I’ll be the girl in the front row for all my favourite performers.
You can get the Nokia x Flow app for Windows Phone, iOS or Android.
Anna Pope is a student of the world, level 56 music festival patron and volunteer and a candy fanatic who enjoys getting lost in big cities and talking to strangers. She will graduate from university this fall and plans on traveling the world on a shoe string, discovering great new music every step of the way.