Arena Market: Finland
The major concern within the Finnish live music business in 2025 is the VAT increase on tickets for cultural and sports events, which rose from 10% to 14% at the start of the year. It has been termed a “disaster,” and there are huge worries about the negative effects of increased ticket pricing and reduced margins for acts.
Nonetheless, there’s optimism in the country’s live business, since Live Nation took on a 20-year lease to run Finland’s largest arena – the 15,900-cap Helsinki Halli (formerly Hartwall Arena) – with a view to making it a key destination for international touring once again.
The city of Helsinki took legal action in late 2024 to expropriate the venue from its Russian owners (as shows there had been on hold since the Russian invasion of Ukraine).
The continuing war in Ukraine is, however, still having major repercussions for the live business in Finland. “As the Ukraine war has been going on, Finland is isolated from international tours,” says Maarit Hurme, MD of the 10,000-cap Gatorade Center in Turku. “Turku and Tampere are quite heavily hit by…
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