Helsinki City Theatre has more than 270,000 spectators in the 2025–2026 performance year
In the 2025–2026 performance year, the Helsinki City Theatre was visited by more than 270,000* spectators. In addition, a total of more than 23,100 people participated in audience outreach activities and various events. A total of 764 performances and 32 different productions were seen on the theatre’s five stages, 17 of which were premieres. The programme for autumn 2026 has also been of interest to theatre audiences. The country’s largest theatre has also taken its environmental work forward.
“Behind our successful performance year is once again a large group of skilled, committed and creative people. I would like to warmly thank our entire staff, artists, partners and audience. In addition to producing our impressive and memorable performances, we have taken determined steps towards more sustainable production methods and developed our operations in accordance with the Theatre’s Green Paper. This spring, we published the Climate Roadmap for 2026–2030, which guides our development work. We want to ensure that theatre not only depicts the world, but also acts responsibly as a part of it,” says theatre director Kari Arffman.
As in the previous year, the Moulin Rouge! A musical (50,000 spectators), the total number of spectators rose to almost 170,000. The premiere of the Comedy of a Bank Robbery on the Main Stage in spring 2026 also attracted the audience (34,400), as did My Brother the Lion’s Heart (19,700), which also continued the repertoire from the previous year, attracting a total of 45,900 spectators.
Both premieres on the Arena stage got the audience moving: in the spring, Hildur, based on Satu Rämö’s bestselling detective novel, (26,700), and in the autumn, Sandy Rustin’s comedy Sutinaa ja säätöä (23,800). The main attraction of the small stage was the joyful and warm-hearted Kurtturuusut (10,000), which will continue in the repertoire in the autumn.
On the Swedish-language stage of Lilla Teatern, Édouard Louis‘ dramatisation The History of Violence received the most viewers (3,600), and Studio Pasila’s most watched performance was the musical play Who Captured the Sun for the whole family (11,367). The auditoriums of the theatre’s dance group, Helsinki Dance Company, were filled with Fernando Melo’s gravity-defying Out of Order (3,413).
The two productions on the stage of the contemporary performance attracted a total of 2,300 spectators, and the audience’s favourite was the 2000s internet-based little_star95 – ooksä online? (1,623), which is also the performance with the most viewers of all time on the stage of the Contemporary Performance.
Autumn novelties interest the public – nearly 80,000 tickets sold
The autumn 2026 programme will also attract audiences. Almost 80,000 tickets have been sold for the autumn performances, and the current occupancy rate of all stages is 44 per cent.
The autumn season will start in August at Studio Pasila with Birds of Paradise, which draws on courtship dances and show wrestling, and on the big stage with the highly anticipated musical & Julia, featuring hits from the 90s and early 2000s.
Four of the five premieres in September will be Finnish premieres: Niina Lahtinen’s and Joonas Nordman’s new comedy Kotijoukot on the Arena stage, the dramatisation of Iida Turpeinen’s bestselling novel The Living on a Small Stage, Lilla Teatern’s contemporary satire De obehöriga, the children’s musical play Fretti Mercury Seeks Happiness at Studio Pasila, and Vesa-Matti Loiri’s The Story of a Laughing Tramp on the big stage.
The absolute dance event of the autumn is the return of Kenneth Kvarnström’s iconic, 30-year-old dance classic no-no to its premiere on November 19 on a small stage.
The all-time favourite Stones in Your Pocket, which has received more than a thousand performances, will continue in the programme until November. Kurtturuusut and Club act!one will also continue in the programme in the autumn season.
In addition, there will be a guest performance by Iikka Kivi – Protestinauru stand-up show on the Arena stage in November.
The rest of the autumn 2026 premieres will be announced in August.
Helsinki City Theatre’s Annual Report 2025 is available on the theatre’s website:
Annual Report 2025 Annual Report 2025
*For comparison, the attendance figures of previous screening years: 2024–2025: 327,000, 2023–2024: 267,000.
Helsinki City Theatre’s ticket sales and customer service by phone (09) 394022 Mon-Fri 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ticket offices Ensi linja 2, Mon-Fri 12-17, Eläintarhantie 5, Sat (performance days) 11-18 and one hour before the performance (ticket offices during summer break 16.5.-26.7.) and Lippu.fi, Mon-Sat 9-19, Sun 12-16, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/min + local network charge) www.hkt.fi
Press release photo: Wrinkled roses. In the photo: Sari Havas, Aino Seppo, Leenamari Unho and Helena Haaranen. Photographer Otto-Ville Väätäinen.
Further information, media ticket reservations and interview requests:
Kaisa Pelkonen, Communications Manager, kaisa.pelkonen@hkt.fi, 040 552 3788
Helsinki City Theatre, Ensi linja 2, 00530 Helsinki