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There are few cities more north than Helsinki. It is so far north (the Arctic Circle is hour away by plane) that you can dance all night at the club and the sun will still be up from the day before when you finally stumble out.
Newsflash: there is more to Finland than Nokia phones. Falling in late June, the week-long Helsinki Pride is the perfect opportunity to check out one of Europe’s northernmost fringes, if only for the fact it’s the one time of the year the Finnish capital qualifies as “warm.” But it is also safe to say that when it comes to gay destinations, Finland, which counts as LGBTQ-friendly, is still a little on the terra incognita side of the rainbow. Helsinki is not only aware of this, but city officials have been making concerted efforts to put the city on the gay map. Nothing against London, Paris, or Sitges, but the Prides there are fairly well known. Helsinki doesn’t exactly count as a far corner of the Earth, but its Pride does have the novelty of something new.
At Gulf of Finland, the ground seems to fray apart, and it is on this picturesque island-studded coast that Helsinki rises. The Pride Parade weaves its way through the historic city center – Helsinki was founded in 1550 – and ends at Kaivopuisto Park, which is a party all on its own. Stages, stalls, and kiosks are set out like candy for a day jammed with events that give gay pride a strong Nordic spin.
And that’s during the business hours. Because the sun will be in the sky almost the entire day, one will find that “nightlife” tends to be a relative term, but all sorts of darkness-associated activities await in the thriving gay culture of town. DTM, Hercules, Keltainen Ruusu, and US Video form the gay club “circuit” of Helsinki, and for the brave, the gay/nudist beach is just off-shore on Pihlayasaari Island.
And a word of warning/random fact: the Finnish language isn’t ANYTHING like you’ve seen before. It’s not like you speak Spanish, and can thus sort of navigate Italian. Have the English-Finnish dictionary in hand. Steele Luxury Travel can help you organize discounted flights and a beautiful itinerary to Findland. Visit www.SteeleTravel.com for more information!
Steele Luxury Travel
www.SteeleTravel.com
