Flow Festival, Helsinki

The former Suvilahti power plant will soon be buzzing again. From 8-12 August the ninth Flow Festival will take place on the historic site close to the center of Helsinki. Flow is Finland's biggest music and arts festival. A glance at the A-Z list of performers and events is testament to the fact that the organisers pride themselves on juxtaposing local and international talent.

Main stage acts will include Björk, who has chosen Flow as one of the locations to showcase her new live spectacle touches. The Black Keys will remind us why their rootsy no-nonsense sound, refined to perfection on their last album, has won them legions of new fans. The stage will also be graced by Swedish pop sensation Lykke Li, France's Yann Tierson and a number of UK acts, too. Four Tet and Caribou join forces for a very special back to back DJ set. Heatsick aka Steven Warwick will share his project which is focused on repetition as a means of creating abstraction, improvising with organic variations of a theme, while embracing the artificial to facilitate a psychedelic mindshift.

The Flow experience is not just about music; it is also about visual arts, workshops, short film screenings and quality food and drink. The beautiful summer weather adds a touch of magic to the atmosphere. A 4 day ticket, which also includes the opening concert and Friday to Sunday costs 160 Euros. What are you waiting for? [Gareth Rice]