The Sysäys Festival 2026 program has been released!

Stygian, picture Tuomas Honkanen

Sysäys Festival returns to the Orivesi campus on Saturday, July 25, 2026, and we are delighted to announce this year's program! It promises to be a day full of contemporary dance, contemporary circus, aerial acrobatics, live music, workshops, and an inclusive program for all ages.

This year's program features an interesting lineup of Finnish artists, new works, and internationally acclaimed artists. There's sure to be something for everyone!

Virtuoso indoor performances in the Klemetti Hall

We are particularly pleased to introduce Stygian, a contemporary circus piece by juggler Onni Toivonen and musician Konsta Leinonen, to this year's programme, where virtuoso contemporary juggling meets deep bass and a live soundscape. The hypnotic and intense piece takes the viewer into a fascinating world and Toivonen's virtuoso juggling is convincing - this is truly not to be missed.

Another of this year's indoor performances is Wounding the World, which will premiere at the Sysäys festival. We are delighted to be part of the production. The physical contemporary dance piece by dance artist Leevi Rauhalahti, who comes originally from Kuhmalahti, deals with militarism and gender through powerful and spectacular bodily expression. It will be a shaking and thought-provoking performance.

Plenty of free programme for all ages

The festival will once again have a lot of free programme this year, and we want to keep the event accessible to visitors of all ages.

During the day, you will see for example, magic and juggling for the whole family led by Magician Marko, as well as a participatory dance piece by Dance Theatre Tsuumi, where the audience gets to build the performance themselves together with the performer.

In addition, we are pleased to bring aerial acrobatics to the festival for the first time through performances by Saana Leppänen and Ilona Jäntti. There will be vertical rope, hair hanging and aerial hoops.

Saana Leppänen, picture Chonky Films

Thank you who made this possible

We are truly happy that the Sysäys Festival will be possible again in 2026. The festival would not be possible without our partners, supporters, funders, volunteers and all the artists involved. Thank you for making it possible for current and high-quality performing arts to be brought to Orivesi.

To the programme here