The Board of Tampere Region Festivals has appointed a new Executive Director to lead the association’s operational activities as of 1 June 2026. The position has been awarded to Susanna Koskimaa, who has previously been responsible for the association’s communications and has also served as Interim Executive Director.
A total of 26 applications were received by the application deadline. During the recruitment process, the Board conducted a comprehensive assessment of the candidates’ expertise in relation to the association’s current needs, the changing operating environment, the expectations of its members, and its future development goals. Based on this evaluation, Koskimaa was selected to continue in the role on a permanent basis.
A Fresh Start
The year 2025 brought significant changes to Tampere Region Festivals. Throughout the year, both staff members and office premises changed several times. At the same time, the association led the Capable and Inclusive Events project, which focused on developing volunteer engagement at events, while also working on a strategic renewal alongside its core operations and several smaller collaborative projects.
As the summer season begins, the association has successfully completed its most demanding development phase and has recently confirmed its new strategy for 2026–2029 at the Annual General Meeting. Koskimaa feels that stepping into the role at this point offers an excellent opportunity to build on familiar work with renewed direction and a clear strategic foundation.
– I’m truly grateful for all the support and encouragement I’ve received from our network and our partners. Although the work itself is already very familiar to me, this new beginning feels fresh and inspiring. It is a great honour to lead the association towards its 20th anniversary in 2029.
Strengthening Collaboration and Addressing Future Challenges
The strategy of Tampere Region Festivals is built around strengthening collaboration between festivals, expanding networks, and improving the expertise and operating conditions of events both nationally and internationally. The association serves as a unifying force, expert organisation, and collective voice for the diverse festival sector in the Tampere region, while providing its members with opportunities to connect, exchange experiences, and share best practices with colleagues.
The Tampere region festival network is unique in Finland and has attracted growing interest both nationally and internationally. The updated strategy places even greater emphasis on international cooperation.
– Our festival network is highly unique even by European standards. Organisations abroad are increasingly interested in how events within a region can collaborate and how regional event ecosystems can be strategically developed and utilised.
Looking ahead, Koskimaa sees the weak economic outlook and the lack of political understanding of the value and impact of arts and culture as the sector’s most pressing challenges. Across the region, municipalities recognise the role of culture in very different ways within their strategies. For this reason, she believes there is a strong need to strengthen advocacy work and research-based knowledge, while ensuring that evidence reaches decision-makers in an understandable and meaningful way.
– Many festivals are under increasing pressure to justify their existence, and their value is often measured primarily through visitor numbers and economic impact. Collecting and analysing economic data is certainly important for us as well, but there are also more human-centred indicators for assessing impact. Internationally, there is currently a growing discussion around measuring social impact, and there is clearly a shared desire among cultural organisations here to move in that direction, too.
In challenging economic times, Tampere Region Festivals aims to support the vitality of the festival sector and respond as effectively as possible to the evolving needs of its members.
– Everything begins with our members and the festivals themselves. We want to listen carefully to what is most relevant to them right now and what kind of support or collaboration they need. Our work is fundamentally driven by the needs and aspirations of the festivals.
Inspired by Unique Cultural Events
Koskimaa has a long history of working in the cultural events sector, providing a strong foundation for her new role as Executive Director. After studying literature and communications at Tampere University, her career led her to roles including Producer of the Festival of Living Literature (Elävän kirjallisuuden festivaali), Chair of the ELKI Association, and an internship at Tampere Theatre Festival. These experiences later led to more permanent positions at Tampere Theatre Festival, Tampere Film Festival, and, since 2018, Tampere Region Festivals.
– My experience of everyday festival work has greatly supported the development and expert work we do at Pirfest, and vice versa. Over the years, the local cultural field and our own network have also become deeply familiar and personally important to me.
In her new position, Koskimaa is particularly inspired by the uniqueness of festivals and by the opportunity to help events develop and strengthen their own sense of purpose and enthusiasm.
– Even if a festival is being organised for the 50th time, every edition is unique. For someone in the audience, on the organising team, or on stage, it may be their very first experience. That makes festival work truly special and, in many ways, almost magical. The work never becomes dull as long as festivals continue to evolve.
Koskimaa believes festivals provide an outstanding platform for presenting arts and culture while bringing people together. She also sees considerable potential for festivals to strengthen their role within their local communities – a perspective that has only become more evident through international discussions.
– Within our network, we have many festivals that have been part of the region for decades, yet many local residents have never even heard of them. There is therefore great potential to strengthen their local significance. It is also fascinating to consider how different events and cultural initiatives can contribute to solving challenges faced by communities and by society more broadly.
