Slovakia’s Trenčín, co-European Capital of Culture 2026 with Finland’s Oulu, offered a first glimpse of its rich cultural scene at Oulu’s opening festival last weekend. While Oulu launched its cultural year from January 16–18, Trenčín is preparing its own opening weekend from February 13–15, highlighting the city’s traditions, creativity, and community spirit.

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. The programme offered a wide range of cultural experiences, from concerts to ice hockey, acrobatics to car tuning, panel discussions to pub quizzes, and from art exhibitions to dance parties in the snow.

Culture Next, the network of 50 European cities of which EcocNews is a media partner, will be present with its own delegation and its own space at the Oulu 2026 opening ceremony.

With just a few days to go before the opening ceremony of Oulu 2026, the programme for the opening ceremony of Trencin 2026 is now online.

Fotografiska Tallinn is bringing a photography exhibition to Finland for the very first time! The high-quality exhibition, curated for the Oulu2026 programme, is inspired by the Oulu2026 main theme, cultural climate change.