Könül Ahmadza­da is a 32-year-old Spe­cial­ist in Inter­na­tion­al Affairs at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu. She moved to Oulu with her fam­i­ly three years ago. Now, she describes Oulu as a dream city she did not even know she was search­ing for.

Oulu is offi­cial­ly on the world’s trav­el radar for 2026. Cel­e­brat­ed by lead­ing inter­na­tion­al media, Oulu is being recog­nised for its north­ern char­ac­ter, cre­ative cul­ture, and easy access to nature. Dis­cov­er the inter­na­tion­al arti­cles nam­ing Oulu a top des­ti­na­tion for 2026!

East­er Sun­day marked the open­ing of a year-long immer­sive sound instal­la­tion in Oulu Cathe­dral. The Logos trans­forms over 4,000 cos­mic sig­nals into spa­tial audio, pre­sent­ing a one-hour com­po­si­tion dai­ly at noon. The instal­la­tion is part of the Oulu2026 cul­tur­al pro­gramme, and admis­sion is free.

Meet Fatema Jan­nat, who trav­elled 6,000 kilo­me­tres to Oulu, Fin­land seek­ing chal­lenge – and found a home where safe­ty, equal­i­ty, and curios­i­ty shaped her new begin­ning.

The week-long World Cham­pi­onship event will bring near­ly 2,000 enthu­si­asts and com­peti­tors from 45 dif­fer­ent coun­tries to Oulu on March 2–8. In addi­tion to cheer­ing, there’s plen­ty of oth­er excite­ment for the audi­ence, includ­ing a unique sauna world and the world’s largest ice sauna!

The elec­tron­ic music and north­ern arts fes­ti­val Frozen Peo­ple returns to Nal­likari in Oulu on Sat­ur­day, 28 Feb­ru­ary 2026, from 2 pm to 10 pm. This year, the event held by the frozen sea will be big­ger than ever before.