41st Helsinki Comics Festival and 3rd Kids’ Comics Fest in September 2026: Stars of Comics from Finland and Around the World!
In September, Helsinki Comics Festival and Kids’ Comics Fest will host a large number of prominent comics artists from Finland and worldwide! Our international guests include, among others, Posy Simmonds from Great Britain, Julie Doucet from Canada, the creators of the Mira series Sabine Lemire and Rasmus Bregnhøi from Denmark, as well as Ivan Kypibida, Sophia Suliy, and Yulia Vus from Ukraine. The programme also features the creators of Tatu ja Patu, Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen, cartoonist Kari Korhonen, Katja Tukiainen and Matti Hagelberg, as well as Kaisa and Christoffer Leka. Reflecting the festival theme “Together,” which emphasises collaboration, the partnership between comics scriptwriter Pauli Kallio and artists Henri Gylander, Christer Nuutinen, Ville Pirinen, and Reetta Niemensivu will be highlighted. Additionally, The Top Secret Boob Mermaid Society collective, among many others, will discuss their work.
Kids’ Comics Fest
The Kids’ Comics Fest will take place on Friday, September 18th. Our Danish guests are Mira series creators Sabine Lemire and Rasmus Bregnhøi. Known especially for the Tatu ja Patu books, Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen, recipients of the Puupäähattu award in 2026, will also be on stage. Johanna Witick will talk about her Stories from Squirrelvalley comics, and Kari Korhonen will talk about his career as a Disney duck artist. Jukka Heiskanen will showcase his script for Linda ja avaruuskaverit: Varjonheittäjät (Linda and the Space Buddies: The Shadow Throwers), and Kai Vaalio will present the most recent book of the Lokkimies ja Wonderpöllö series. New books from Leo and Tuuli Humina’s Utelias Varvas series, Petteri Tikka’s Kanerva ja Eero, and Kalle Hakkola’s Sanni ja Joonas series will also be released in 2026. Susi Nousiainen and Sara Valta will discuss their work on Se on amisjuttu!, created with vocational school youth. Comics artist Roope Eronen will lead a workshop for children.
Helsinki Comics Festival
The weekend of September 19–20, Helsinki Comics Festival will feature an impressive list of guests that will blow your mind!
The Grand Prix at the Angoulême International Comics Festival has been awarded to only five women in history, two of whom are featured in Helsinki’s programme: British Posy Simmonds, whose book Gemma Bovery will be translated into Finnish in 2026, and Canadian artist Julie Doucet, known for her autobiographical feminist comics since the 1980s.
On stage, you will also see Emilia Laatikainen, the festival artist who designed the graphic identity for the festival and has received the Sarjakuva-Finlandia award. Elias Ericson, a Swedish artist-in-residence in Finland during September, will discuss his work, including the Diana & Charlie project. As part of the Sarjakuva 2026 project showcasing Finnish comics in France, comics professionals Eeva Meltio, Aapo Rapi, and Amanda Vähämäki will appear and discuss their work and their participation in the project.
The theme “Together” highlights collaboration in the comics field. Artist couples Katja Tukiainen and Matti Hagelberg, as well as Kaisa and Christoffer Leka, will share their experiences. Siblings Iriini Kalliomäki and Kiira Mukka will talk about creating their first joint work, Hangaarin Kummitus (The Ghost of the Hangar).
Comic artists Ona Kvašytė from Lithuania, Ida Neverdahl and Tim Ng Tvedt from Norway, and Emmi Valve and Tommi Musturi from Finland, representing the Mythbústers anthology of Latvian publisher Kuš!, will also be part of the programme. A panel dedicated to comics about the war in Ukraine will feature Ukrainian artists Ivan Kypibida, Sophia Suliy, and Yulia Vus, sharing their experiences behind their powerful stories. Publishing collectives Slovenian Stripburger, German Pure Fruit, and Swedish CBK will discuss their work and projects. The feminist comics collective The Top Secret Boob Mermaid Society will celebrate its 10th anniversary at the festival. The comics collective Kutikuti will present works from their new Vyöry anthology, with artists Sanna Hukkanen, Siiri Viljakka, Miissa Rantanen, and Hannele Richert participating in a panel discussion. The Plenty Collective, representing BIPoC comics creators, will also showcase their work. The comics society KESS from Central Finland and the northern publishing association Pokuto will bring artists Juho Hautala, Martti Teinilä, and Avi Heikkinen to the stage.
Other festival participants include Swedish magazine MAL Magasin, and comics artists Klaudia Denisov, Jyrki Heikkinen, Petri Hiltunen, Tuuli Hypén, Pilvi Hyväri, Kivi Larmola, Mika Lietzen, Maleek (DE), Nina Mutik, Sami Nyyssölä, Lauri Pitkänen, Juho Sihvonen, Johanna Sinisalo, and Vesa Vitikainen.
Festival Programme Announced in August
The festival will feature many other guests, in panel discussions, interviews, workshops, exhibitions, and more! The full programmes for Kids’ Comics Fest and Helsinki Comics Festival will be published in August 2026.
More information and interview requests
Athanasía Aarniosuo
Artistic Director
athanasia.aarniosuo@sarjakuvaseura.fi
Ella Tahkolahti
Producer
info@sarjakuvafestivaalit.fi
The festival weekend is September 18–20, 2026. Cultural Centre Stoa will be open to the public on Friday from 9:30 am to 6 pm, Saturday from 10:30 am to 7 pm, and Sunday from 10:30 am to 6 pm. The event is free and open to all. The venue is wheelchair accessible. We follow principles of safer space at the event.