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.

The first official meeting between the Moroccan city and Matera, designated Mediterranean Capitals of Culture and Dialogue 2026 as part of the initiative promoted by the Union for the Mediterranean and the Anna Lindh Foundation, took place on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 December in Tétouan.