Watch the select­ed con­tes­tants show their deter­mi­na­tion to the whole world by get­ting into the Avan­to (Fin. ”ice hole”) and pitch­ing their start­up on Feb­ru­ary 26! The com­pe­ti­tion will be broad­cast­ed world­wide, and this year it is also open to the pub­lic in hon­or of Oulu2026.

A huge num­ber of peo­ple gath­ered at the Oulu2026 Open­ing Fes­ti­val to cel­e­brate the launch of the Euro­pean Cap­i­tal of Cul­ture year on 16–18 Jan­u­ary. Around 200 events across Oulu city cen­tre attract­ed over 250,000 vis­its, mak­ing it one of the largest events in Oulu’s his­to­ry.

Visidon was rec­og­nized as Oulu’s Most Inter­na­tion­al Employ­er of 2025. Visidon thrives on diver­si­ty and glob­al tal­ent. Watch the video to see what every­day work cul­ture is like at Visidon in Oulu!

U.S. news out­let CNN has high­light­ed Oulu in its list “Where to Trav­el in 2026 – The Best Places to Vis­it.” CNN describes Oulu as one of the world’s most inter­est­ing trav­el des­ti­na­tions this year, with par­tic­u­lar atten­tion giv­en to Oulu’s role as Euro­pean Cap­i­tal of Cul­ture 2026.

Meet Vy “Vivi” Nguyen, who trad­ed the vibrant streets of Viet­nam for the calm rhythm of Oulu. Today, she’s thriv­ing as a Com­put­er Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing stu­dent – but just as often cycles, dances, and builds net­works.

An excep­tion­al moment was expe­ri­enced in Oulu at the turn of the year, as the Oulu2026: New Year’s Show brought the count­down to the Euro­pean Cap­i­tal of Cul­ture year to audi­ences across Fin­land. Sev­er­al thou­sand peo­ple gath­ered at the Oulu Hall, while the tele­vi­sion broad­cast reached more than one mil­lion view­ers.