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Helsinki Comics Festival programme announced!

The programme for the 40th Helsinki Comics Festival and the second Kids’ Comics Fest, to be held at the Cable Factory in 2025, has been released! This year’s festival themes are darkness and Greek comics.

The special anniversary programme has been complemented by amazing guest artists and experts, as well as fun surprises—more details below! The full programme can be read here.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Pekka Puupää comic, Vesa Kataisto will give a lecture on comics and the history of the Puupäähattu Award, which has been awarded annually by the Finnish Comics Society since 1972. Additionally, Ulla Donner, recently awarded the Puupäähattu Award, will be interviewed, and attentive festival-goers might spot several Puupäähattu-awarded artists at the event.

In the panel “Comic of My Life,” that follows the well-known television format, comics artist and former chairperson of the Finnish Comics Society H-P Ontto-Panula, comics expert Juhani Tolvanen, artistic director of the festival Athanasía Aarniosuo, official festival photographer Henry Söderlund, and the 2023 festival artist Kimmo Lust, who received the Sarjakuva-Finlandia Award in 2023, will present their favorite comics.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Asema Kustannus, there will be a dedicated panel featuring their comic artists Ville Ranta (Puupäähattu Award 2009), Mika Lietzen, and Mari Ahokoivu (Puupäähattu Award 2023). The festival will also host interviews with Hanna Kukko as well as Zine Fest’s special guests Maaria Laurinen, Jere “Ruakku” Poikela, and Evangelos Androutsopoulos.

Film director Dome Karukoski will moderate a panel on film storyboards and comics, featuring comics artists Anssi Rauhala, Kivi Larmola (Puupäähattu Award 1991), and Maria Björklund. The Finnish Comics Society’s education coordinator Kalle Keinonen will host a panel discussing the future of comics education, with industry professionals Matti Hagelberg (Puupäähattu Award 1997), Tessa Astre, Mikko Jylhä, and Sami Aho. There will also be a panel dedicated to discussing the future of comics archiving.

In “The Immortal Phantom” panel moderated by Vesa Kataisto, comics artist Petri Hiltunen (Puupäähattu Award 2002), translator Sirpa Alkunen, and comics editor and designer Petri Aarnio will discuss the iconic character. Onni Mustonen will give a lecture on the golden age of American comics.

Festival-goers will also have many opportunities to actively participate! Rimma Erkko will lead a horror comics workshop, Mögart co will host a collage workshop, and Nina Mutik will run a comics workshop for queer people. Attendees can also participate in a croquis drawing session. Those interested can have their portrait taken by Henry Söderlund with the theme “Dark Room.” Pii Anttonen will host a playful comics contest, and Apila Pepita and Ahma Hokkanen will set up a pop-up tattoo studio at the Cable Factory. Comics creators can also bring their portfolios for review by professionals from publishers such as Conundrum, Hecate Press, Lystring Förlaget, and Nordic Manga.

Welcome to enjoy comics on a dark September weekend at the Cable Factory! There will be activities and discussions suitable for all ages; the Kids’ Comics Fest programme has also been published, with more information to follow in August.

Kids’ Comics Fest for the second time on the balcony of Merikaapelihalli at Kaapelitehdas on September 21, 2025

The children’s own comics event Kids’ Comics Fest is being organised for the second time in September! The free event, aimed at children, will take place on September 21, 2025, on the balcony of Merikaapelihalli at Kaapelitehdas. Helsinki Comics Festival, with themes of darkness and Greek comics, will be held at Merikaapelihalli on September 20–21, 2025, and the themes of Kids’ Comics Fest echo those of the main festival. Festival artist Roope Eronen has created the visuals for the children’s festival. 

Comics artists will discuss children’s horror comics and fantasy. In addition to Roope Eronen (Jaiksfukin), the programme includes Mari Luoma (Romeo & hirviöt), Niina Salmelin (Hirviöpäiväkirjat), Miila Westin (Myyttiset), Janne Kukkonen (Voro), and Pentti Otsamo & Anja Rissanen (new comic book Miks just nyt? from Finland, as well as Nora Dåsnes (Cross My Heart and Hope to Die) from Norway.

Tattoo and comics artists Apila Pepita and Ahma Hokkanen will lead a temporary skin art workshop. In Kati Rapia‘s workshop, in the spirit of her comic book series Käsi keittiössä, registered participants will cook together without verbal instructions, and the audience can follow the process. In addition, the programme includes a storyboard workshop in collaboration with the Helsinki International Film Festival.

Of course, children’s comics from several publishers will also be for sale at the festival!

Festival artist Roope Eronen is a Helsinki-based comics artist and an active participant in marginal music. He is known for his absurd humor and experimental comics storytelling. Eronen has published children’s comics on a few occasions. He is currently working on a major children’s comics project.

Welcome to ponder with us why it’s so much fun to be a little scared!

40th Helsinki Comics Festival: Many stars of the Finnish comics scene and international guests at the Cable Factory on September 20-21, 2025

The 40th Helsinki Comics Festival will take place in September! This free event, with programme tailored for adults and children alike, will be held on September 20–21, 2025, at the Merikaapelihalli hall of the Cable Factory. This year’s themes are darkness and Greek comics. Festival artist Tuoni Myllylä has created the gloomy visual identity of the event. The full list of invited guests will be announced later in spring.

Steve Stivaktis, one of the Greek guests, connects Greek folktales with queer themes. His work “Gérard: Ή, το σπαθί στην πλάτη του,” translated as “Gérard or the sword on his back,” will be published at the time of the festival by Zum Teufel. Ilias Kyriazis is well known in Greece for his iconic “Manifesto” series, and his latest comic book is titled “What We Wished For.” Invited guest Alexia Othonaiou‘s comics and illustrations have appeared in Greek newspapers and magazines. Her work “Η γυναίκα με τα τραπουλόχαρτα,” translated as “The Woman with Playing Cards” (published in Finnish by Zum Teufel), will also be published at the festival.

The festival’s theme of darkness will be addressed in several discussion panels. In the first panel, featuring horror themes, Alexandros Kyparissis, who is half Greek, along with Haltijakäpälä and Henriikka “Rikkisu” Palva will discuss their work. The second panel will feature discussions by Terhi Ekebom, Joonas Järvi, and Jiipu Uusitalo. Ekebom is a Helsinki-based illustrator and comic artist who also creates murals and public art. Järvi is a comic artist and graphic designer inspired by old prints, surrealism, and vintage manga. Uusitalo’s latest comic album, “Pimeän rihmasto,” (loosely translated as “Strings of darkness”) addresses the mind, existence in the world, and psychological manipulation through horror.

Newly released works will also be presented by Juliana Hyrri and artist brothers Janne and Pekka Parviainen. Hyrri’s graphic novel “Lellikki,” (“The Favourite”) published by WSOY in September 2025, delves into power relations and morality with tones of hope and playfulness. “Susitaival,” by Janne and Pekka Parviainen, is a comic narrative about fulfilling a long-term hiking dream. Also among our invited guests are the recent Puupää-hat winner Ulla Donner, as well as the Franco-Algerian illustrator and comic artist Melek Zertal, who resides in Paris and California.

Ilpo Koskela will give a lecture on creating realistic historical graphic novels, and a panel discussion on historical comics will feature Timo Mäkelä, Matti Nieminen, and Daniel Stolle. Mäkelä’s “Eugen and Sigrid” is a comic book about an extraordinary sibling pair born in the 1870s and their actions at a turning point in Finnish history. Nieminen and Stolle’s “Aikovat vallata Suomen?” (“They Plan on Taking over Finland”) focuses on the events of the Winter War. Robert Aman will also give a lecture for the festival audience on his latest book “Serier för vuxna: Epix och den svenska serierevolutionen” and the wild history of the Epix publishing company.

Representatives of the Canadian publisher Hecate Press, the Swedish collective Longest Night, and the Finnish Kutikuti will discuss northern comic collectives in a panel.

The full programme will be published closer to the event at sarjakuvafestivaalit.fi. Welcome to a dark September at the Cable Factory for all things comics!