Ankea Festival, Tehdaskartanonkatu 46, 33400 Tampere Finland 5-6th June 2026
Ankea Festival is a masterclass in how a festival should be.
A good festival is a collaborative effort between bands, organisers and audience. Any one of these things being subpar can really ruin the festival experience.
For example, no matter how good the bands are, it’s hard to enjoy them if the audience is made up of bored kids running around causing mischief and bored adults chatting with their mates whilst they wait for the 1 song they know to come on.
Bands feed off the buzz of the audience, so they can’t give it their best if there are only 5 people watching them because everyone else is watching a slightly more popular band of the same genre on another stage, or if the audience are standing there with their arms folded because they only came to see the big headliner.
No such problems at Ankea where every category achieved top marks!
Located in a cool ex-industrial area with high quality street art (a little bit like the early days of the Baltic Triangle if you know Liverpool), and a tram service that takes you from the town centre literally to the gate, getting there is a doddle (indeed I came from Liverpool and it was pretty straight-fwd – train to Manchester, plane to Helsinki, 90 mins on train to Tampere).
First impressions of the site set high expectations which are easily matched and indeed exceeded over the course of the weekend.
The festival uses the bumper system where there are 2 stages, identical other than the one at the far end had video screens to be able to see from across the site, when one band finishes on one stage, the next band starts 5 minutes later on the other stage.
You can easily watch the final note of a bands set, walk to the other stage, find your spot, all before the next band comes on stage.
If there’s a band you really want to get to the front for, you can leave on the final song of the previous band’s set, get down the front and still hear the previous band clearly.
Since my son was diagnosed with autism, and learned more about the symptoms, I’ve realised that most people have some autistic quirks even if they aren’t fully autistic.
So whilst if there are 2 bands I really want to see on at the same time at a festival I just choose one and then if they aren’t very good go to the other if practical, I know some people who get so anxious when 2 bands they want to see are on at the same time, that they can’t enjoy the band they are watching for fearing they are missing out on the other one.
Being able to see every band you want to is at the very least a nice bonus, and potentially can save your festival experience, depending on how your brain is wired.
Whilst the festival may grow to a size where multiple simultaneous stages become a necessity, I really think this system is a major positive – it’s great for audience as you can easily see every band that you want to see (if there’s a band you really wanted to avoid, maybe due to memories of a painful breakup or something, I believe you could leave the site, jump on a tram, get a coffee somewhere and come back). And of course, no sound-bleed issues.
It’s great for bands because they get plenty time to setup and line-check plus they all get a fair crack of the audience. If you’re a good band that most of the audience don’t know, then it can be a real opportunity for them to grow their fanbase.
The site is big enough to have a festival feel, but small enough to get around easily.
The festival was busy enough to have a good vibe, right from when the gates opened, yet even during the headline slots it wasn’t over- crowded – so you could get around easily, and I never had any trouble finding somewhere to sit or a WC.
The festival has a “no-asshole” policy and whilst I’m not quite sure how they police the policy, it was certainly asshole-free!
Everyone I met was really cool. When you’re at a festival where practically everyone has a band t-shirt on, you know they are passionate music people who are there for the music and not to cause trouble.
Lineup
The initial attraction to any festival is the lineup, so of course if you already know and like the bands then it’s a no-brainer.
I came initially for Kælan Mikla – we put them on in Liverpool last November and I realised it was 5 years since their previous UK headline show, not wanting to wait that long for the next time to see them, I started googling to find out what events they were playing in 2026 – Ankea Festival ticked all the boxes, I’ve never been to Scandinavia before, and seeing a band named after the Lady of the Cold from Moomin Midwinter in the home of The Moomins was too perfect to miss.
Some people may find it strange going all the way to Finland to see an underground band, but then I find it strange that people go abroad just to sit on a beach – nothing wrong with New Brighton just need to remember your big coat 🙂 But year, each to their own and all that!
To be honest, a lot of the other bands were slightly outside my comfort zone as I tend to listen more to punk, goth, post-punk, EBM, experimental etc rather than metal or prog – but it’s always worth remembering that the best things in life are outside your comfort zone.
When we’re young, we experience lots of firsts then people get older and miss that excitement, so they end up spending £700 on Oasis tickets and buying replica Sinclair Spectrums and CBM 64s trying to recreate their youth, only to realise it was a bit rubbish, they should just try something new.
I thoroughly enjoyed most of the bands, and whilst I’d been worried just in case Kælan Mikla cancelled for any reason (always a worry when you travel a long way for one band) it would have still been worth the trip.
Some highlights for me off the top were A.A. Williams (who I have seen before and always superb), Vermilia, Circle, Sylvaine, Bruce Soord, Ihlo, Demonic Death Judge, God is an Astronaut and Leprous.
Location
If you’ve never been to Finland I highly recommend it!
Both Tampere where the festival is held, and Helsinki where I flew to are simply stunning, and I would happily have spent a lot more time in both.
Trains, trams and buses are fast and efficient for getting around. If you get the train from Helsinki to Tampere I highly recommend the seats in the buffet car that face the window – great views and very relaxing.
Although the festival looked quite far out, there is a tram that stops outside, it took 5 mins to reach my stop and about 8 mins walk to my apartment – which was really good value. It felt very safe, and of course at this time of year it isn’t dark!
Could anything be improved?
It’s really hard to pick fault with the setup. The only thing I can think of, and this is the case with most festivals, it would be good to have a “fast” food option.
I bought a burger the first day which took 30 mins, and tacos the next which took 20 minutes.
Whilst both were definitely worth waiting for, something like a Cornish Pasty stand where you hand over your money, they give you a pasty and you eat it, can be useful.
But really, it’s a very small thing.
2027
When walking around on the Friday I saw someone with a Kalandra t-shirt on. I was quite surprised since they formed in Liverpool and weren’t very well known then, though were always amazing live.
On the Saturday the festival announced their first names for 2027 – including Kalandra who I hadn’t realised were so popular now, and Alcest.
Will I go back next year? Financial, work and family circumstances will dictate whether I can, but 100% I really want to.
And if they managed to persuade Kælan Mikla’s keyboardist Solveig Matthildur to do a solo set, I’ll be there supposing I have to swim to get there😊
It is a thoroughly amazing festival, and I’d recommend it to anyone.
