The performer search has closed. This year, a total of 472 applications were submitted, nearly a hundred more than in the record year of 2025.

Executive Director Venla Mutanen shares her excitement:

– This number of applications is incredible. It’s especially heartening that applications have come from across Finland and even from abroad. They also represent an enormous variety of art forms. It’s comforting to see so many people wanting to perform at Yläkaupungin Yö, even though our financial resources sometimes feel insufficient.

The production team is now working at full speed to assemble the program, which will be finalized in March. Every applicant will be contacted.

Graphic designer Anniina Lius has created the visual identity of Yläkaupungin Yö since 2018. The event is personally meaningful to her: her youth in Jyväskylä taught her the importance of belonging and community support. Even though Anniina hasn’t lived in the city for ten years, Yläkaupungin Yö once again brings her into one of the city’s most communal moments.

– The past few years have been challenging, and much has happened in the world that has shaken our sense of security and hope. That is precisely why art, togetherness, and community are so desperately needed now,” Anniina explains.

This year’s theme, Comfort (Lohtu), felt especially significant to her.

–  Comfort for me is the simultaneity of warmth and sorrow – that even in the middle of tears, there is something sustaining. The final design became an abstract composition. A person cries, but the tears nourish two flowers embracing each other. The flowers are safely in their own buds, and their roots form a connection.”