This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Outsider Art Festival (OAF). The anniversary programme is being assembled by the OAF team: Producer Arttu Partinen and Music Programme Producer Teuvo Merkkiniemi, Communications Intern Liisa Paakkanen, Festival Director Heini Merkkiniemi, Producer and Communications Coordinator Tuomas Vaahtoluoto; Production Intern Minka Yltävä.
For the opening, the team is planning a gigantic inflatable wind-ghoul based on the ghoul character by Neea Haapala featured in the OAF poster. Highlights expected this year: powerful music line-up, dancing with ghouls and festival-goers during the Night of the Arts, and the OAF Poetry Stage at The House of Text! Special anticipation surrounds the announcement of the Artist of the Year, awarded this time to an artist in the literature programme.
For the second consecutive year, OAF extends beyond Helsinki to Espoo. Production in Espoo is led by Arttu Partinen—known from Pertti’s Choice shop and the Mental Alaska experimental-music collective. From the OAF’s Espoo program, Partinen singles out the rap concert in Louhisali on 21 August: “I’m eager to see what happens when the legendary ‘cola man’ MC KOO meets the unstoppable Good Boys crew on the Louhisali stage.”
Get acquainted with OAF 2025 program here.
Pic: Samuli A.
