Old Student House

Built in 1910, Vanha Ylioppilastalo — the Old Student House — is one of Helsinki's most storied cultural buildings. For over a century, it has been the place where ideas are argued, movements are born, and celebrations happen. At ODDfest, its six rooms run in parallel: the Great Hall hosts the biggest performances; the terrace runs music from afternoon to morning; and the rooms upstairs hold talks, workshops, debates, and experiences that have no equivalent anywhere else in the program.

The Old Student House is where the festival lives. Six rooms run in parallel across both days — you will have to choose.

Program Main Hall

The Main Hall opens Friday with DanceWorlds, a multidisciplinary performance by DanceWorks Helsinki and Nuua Company, created exclusively for ODDfest. It begins in the corridors and staircases of the building before arriving in the hall, where it ends as a collective dance party. This performance exists only here, only these two nights.

The evening builds through A. Blomqvist (Finland's most-streamed classical composer after Sibelius, 80M+ worldwide), Sarah Julia (NL, introspective indie folk, devastating emotional honesty), and headliner Valerie June (US) — Grammy-nominated, praised by the New Yorker and New York Times, a singer-songwriter who has shared stages with Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, and Bob Dylan. After her: Lauer & DENA (DE), a live set built specifically for ODDfest — Philipp Lauer (200+ remixes, Running Back, Beats In Space) alongside DENA (Kitsuné, Domino Publishing), performing together for the first time on a Finnish stage.

Saturday's Main Hall becomes ODDclub: a six-hour club theatre production directed by Tyre, with a narrative arc that runs from 8 PM to 4 AM. It moves through five distinct acts — welcome, escalation, chaos, ballroom, and a 3:30 AM surprise that the program director refuses to describe. The House of Xclusive Lanvin brings ten performers for a full Ballroom Extravaganza at midnight. Maryisonacid (FR) — resident at Berghain Panorama Bar and Tresor Berlin — closes the night.

Program Terrace

The Terrace runs music all day and night on both days. Friday highlights: ValioBeats (live painting + DJing + streaming simultaneously), Sofi Merone ("Finnish Robyn"), Eve, Genki, and DJ WUF closing with a Ghetto Tech special at 2:30 AM. Saturday: Messy Micc, Discobingo, ONCHI, Köppö, and the smile. Festival Showcase — Pascal Fischer b2b Beatchboyben from Frankfurt — closing at 3:30 AM.

Program Upstairs rooms

Five rooms upstairs run the full talks and workshop program across both days:

• Governance Room — live theatrical debate: Should Economic Considerations Guide Making of Art? (co-produced with Espoo Theatre and Q-teatteri); Saturday: negotiation workshop, rural Italy art panel, and Love Really Is Blind blind date hosted by Winged

• Music Hall — YOTTO in interview; festival panels with Way Out West, Distortion, and Ö Fest; Night School Launch; Jussi Kurkela on the fall of a million-euro business

• Gallery — Legal Clinic for Creatives (free, all Saturday); customer data drop-in clinic; vulnerability and leadership workshop

• Faculty Hall — Rolf Ekroth's live SS27 public fitting (4 hours, real collection, no staging); Utopia Workshop; Winged Hidden Party (evening, pre-registration required)