Apply to Perform at Jazz-Espa Summer 2026
The Finnish Jazz Federation is once again organizing a series of free outdoor concerts at the Esplanade Park stage in Helsinki from July 27 to August 1, 2026. Applications for performers will open on Friday, December 12, 2025, at 10:00 AM and close on Friday, January 23, 2026, at 4:00 PM. You can apply to perform at Jazz-Espa using an online form, accessible via the link at the end of this article.
The performers for Jazz-Espa will be selected from high-quality, primarily Finnish jazz ensembles that have not performed at Jazz-Espa in the past two years. The Finnish Jazz Federation board will make the selection decisions, and applicants will be informed of the results by the end of March 2026.
The Finnish Jazz Federation will produce the concerts and pay the musicians’ fees (€236.35 gross + 13.5% holiday compensation). The Federation will not cover any travel expenses for ensembles traveling from abroad to Finland.
We encourage all professional ensembles to apply to perform at Jazz-Espa. Applications can also include concert programs designed for children. In our programming choices, we aim to promote diversity in terms of performers’ gender, age, physical ability, cultural and educational background, as well as stylistic and regional diversity among the ensembles.
The stage is wheelchair accessible, but the backstage and social facilities are not. For ensembles with members who use wheelchairs or otherwise find stairs challenging, we will adapt the backstage facilities to meet their needs.
Note: If you are applying with multiple ensembles, please complete a separate form for each ensemble.