A panel discussion at Sanoma House
The power of black humour in the opera Festen
A free panel discussion about the upcoming opera
The opera sensation Festen, which premieres at the Finnish National Opera on 27 March 2026, is a tragedy infused with black humour. It tells the story of a family whose dark secret comes to light during a birthday celebration.
You are warmly invited to attend a panel discussion on the creation process and themes of Festen at the Media Piazza in Sanoma House on Thursday 26 March from 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm. The event will be held in English and is free to attend. The discussion explores what it means to create an opera based on a film, why laughing at horrifying subjects can be good for us, and why British humour is so popular in Finland. The event also features musical excerpts from the opera.
The panel features Artistic Director of the Finnish National Opera Thomas de Mallet Burgess, along with the creators of Festen, librettist Lee Hall and composer Mark-Anthony Turnage, and anthropologist Marianna Keisalo. The English-language discussion is moderated by Sami Sykkö. Members of the audience will also have the opportunity to pose questions to the panellists.
The music is performed by mezzosopranos Clare Presland and Susan Bickley, both members of the opera cast, with Tuomas Juutilainen at the piano.
The free event takes place at Sanoma House (Töölönlahdenkatu 2, 00100 Helsinki).
Calendar
Best Stalls seats for Festen – now €30 off
To celebrate the event, we are offering a special benefit: enjoy €30 off the best Stalls seats for selected performances of Festen (Thu 9 April at 7 p.m., Sat 11 April at 2 p.m., Wed 15 April at 7 p.m. and Fri 17 April at 7 p.m.). The offer is valid until Sunday 29 March.
How to buy the discounted tickets
- Using our online store requires signing in. Sign in or create a customer account. Please return to this page after signing in.
- The offer is valid until Sunday 29 March 2026 at 11:59 p.m., if there are discounted tickets left.
- Choose the performance from the list below. The offer does not apply to other performances.
- Select maximum of 4 seats in the Stalls in price category B (blue seats) or C (orange seats).
- Select Standard Ticket as the ticket type and continue to payment. The Standard Ticket price is reduced automatically as you add your tickets to the shopping basket. Continue to payment.
- We will send the tickets to your email. You will find your tickets in the Opera&Ballet mobile app, too, if you have installed it on your mobile phone.
The availability of discounted tickets is limited. The offers are only valid for tickets to the performances listed below. The campaign tickets can only be purchased online on this page. The offer is valid until Sunday 29 March 2026 at 11:59 p.m., if there are discounted tickets left. The offer is only valid for Standard Tickets.
However, if you end up shopping through another route than this page, you can get tickets for the performances listed on this page for campaign price by entering the code FESTEN30 in the shopping cart in the Do you have a promo code or a gift voucher? field.
Please note that campaign tickets bought using a discount code are non-exchangeable. Learn more in our sales and delivery terms and conditions.
