FI SV

Jazz-Espa info

Jazz-Espa is an urban festival produced by the Finnish Jazz Federation, focusing on Finnish jazz music. The event presents a diverse and contemporary selection of top names in Finnish jazz as well as young promising talents to a broad audience.

The Jazz-Espa concert series take place on July 29 – August 3, 2024. From Monday to Friday, the showtimes are at 16.00m and at 5.30pm. On the final Saturday, there are two children friendly concerts, at 2.00 pm and at 3.30 pm.

Espa stage is an open air venue, so Jazz Finland reserves the right to program changes and cancellations in case of a bad weather conditions.

The event is organized in cooperation with the Savoy Theatre, which manages the Espan stage. Other supporters of the event: Helsinki Cultural Centre, William Thuring Foundation, Oskar Öflund Foundation, The Finnish Music Foundation, Concert Centre Finland, Jazz Department of the Sibelius Academy, Embassy of Estonia in Helsinki, Restaurant Kappeli, Pop & Jazz Conservatory, and Grotesk Helsinki.

Accessibility

The concerts are free and accessible for all. The announcements will be made in Finnish and English. There is a limited number of both seated and standing spots. Please read our covid-19 safety protocol before attending the event. There are no parking lots near to the stage, so we encourage to arrive by walking or bike, if possible.

The Espa Stage space is accessible to the public. Performers can use a lift for disabled persons, which enables direct access to the stage from street level. You can briefly stop in the vicinity of the stage, if necessary. You cannot park, however. There is no toilet for disabled persons available. The toilet facilities of the adjacent Restaurant Kappeli are accessible.

Getting there

Address: Esplanade Park 1, 00130 Helsinki. In the centre of Helsinki, opposite to Restaurant Kappeli.

You can easily get fairly close to the stage by public transport. To check public transport connections, see HSL Journey Planner.

You cannot park in Esplanade Park. Closest parking facilities are EuroPark Kluuvi, entrance at Fabianinkatu 27/Puutarhakatu 1 and Q-Park Kasarmitori, entrance at Fabianinkatu 17

Let’s make Jazz-Espa concerts safe for everyone!

It is a priority to us organizers, that Jazz-Espa is safe and enjoyable experience for everyone, including the artists, staff and volunteers and the audience. To ensure this, please take a moment to read our code of conduct for safer spaces.

If you would encounter or witness any discriminatory behaviour, harassment or failure to general safety, please contact the security staff, located near the stage. They will be wearing a yellow vest. If you have any questions or feedback from the concert programme or e.g. the sound, please contact our production staff. You will find them making the announcements and also the security staff can point you in our direction. All lost and found items will be collected in the back of the stage. Please contact Jazz Finland or Espa Stage staff for those at info@jazzfinland.fi / espanlava@helf.fi.

We will try to keep the audience from blocking the parkway in front of the Kappeli terrace, but in case of a temporary crowding, you can go around the Espa stage area using Etelä- or Pohjoisesplanadi streets that are linear to the parkway.

Everyone has the right to a safe concert experience. Let’s ensure that and…

…give everyone the physical and social space they need. Let’s offer a seat to the elderly, people with handicaps or who are otherwise challenged to stand through the hour-long concerts. Let’s make sure that when we find our place in the standing area, we are not blocking someone right behind us. Let’s not force contact or chatting with another person if they don’t clearly indicate to respond. Let’s not touch anyone without consent. Even if Jazz-Espa is an outdoor event, let’s avoid using strong scents. Smoking is forbidden in the audience. All the trash that we bring to the park, we will take away with us or put in the garbage cans around the stage. The right place for loud talking and alcoholic beverages is the Kappeli terrace and restaurant.

…recognize power relations and take action against harassment. Let’s take a minute to think how different forms of privilege affect our position and our chances to use power, act, move and feel safe. What is comfortable for us may be unpleasant for someone else. Accept that we are responsible for our actions. Let’s avoid assumptions based on other people’s appearance: Someone’s sexuality, gender, relationship status, nationality, culture, language, religion, values, ability are not relevant to us. Let’s stand up against bullying, discriminatory behavior and harassment. The old campaign still works: If you see something, say something!

Greener choices

The annual Jazz-Espa event has been the annual highlight for the whole Jazz Federation team ever since the inaugural event in 2000, and we wish to keep bringing joy to people via the Espa Stage in the future as well. We acknowledge our responsibilities regarding the environmental effects of producing a large event, and we wish to do our part in slowing down climate change. We believe that acting for the climate and the Baltic Sea will also increase the overall comfort of living in and visiting our city.

In 2022 our EcoCompass environmental program was audited, and now we proudly hold the certificate. EcoCompass is an environmental management system and certificate which has been developed based on the international ISO 14001 standard. The system is owned by the Finnish Association of Nature Conservation.

Through our 2022-2024 program we pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions created through our productions. As part of the live music industry’s 2022 climate measurement scheme, Jazz Espa’s carbon footprint was measured, and we commit to do our best to reduce our environmental load through the following actions:

Cutting down transport-related emissions

We plan all our transport efficiently: everything we need from backlines to banners, from clothes pegs to catering will be delivered and picked up in one go.
The only additional transport run to the venue will be for the grand piano and decorative greenery, which we will share with the Etno-Espa festival which starts after ours.
Performers, staff and audiences are encouraged to make their way to the venue using public transport or by walking. For guests outside of Helsinki, we recommend travelling by train if possible.

We will conduct an audience survey about modes of transport used getting to the event, in order to obtain information on how to better encourage people to choose low-carbon or carbon-neutral transport options.

Moving towards low-carbon vegetarian meals

Our green room catering is fully vegan, and we aim to take advantage of the delicious and in-season fresh produce available at the adjacent Kauppatori market square.
There is a vegan lunch option on offer to performers and staff at the nearby Kappeli Restaurant.

Reducing the amount of waste and recycling effectively

Our carbon-neutral printed materials in 2024 are provided by Helsinki-based Next Print Oy, whose responsibility for sustainability is confirmed by the environmental certificates FSC, PEFC, “Joutsenmerkki”, and “Ekokompassi”.
We no longer hand out printed leaflets at the event venue. Instead, event information is available to our audiences through stage announcements, our Facebook event page, as well as our webpage www.jazzespa.fi. We have also given up printing publicity posters, and this year we only print a handful of posters to be used at the event venue.
We will recycle all stage banners to be used again next year and use old posters as scrap paper or postage materials.
We will avoid unnecessary printing and keep re-using printed materials such as green room signs.
We avoid participating in single-use culture and follow the old wisdom: what we bring with us for the event, we will take with us afterwards to keep for next year.

In order to reduce the amount of plastic waste, our performers and staff will bring their own refillable water bottles, and we all use our excellent tap water instead of the bottled option.
We will not provide single-use cutlery, cups or plates in the green room. Instead, we provide washable options for serving and consuming meals.
We will avoid creating food waste by planning our green room catering to align with the number of users and our schedules.
We sort our waste and encourage our audiences to do the same.
Smoking is forbidden in the audience area, and we provide clear signage to allocated smoking areas. Cigarette butts are plastic and do not belong on the ground or in the sea!

Reducing our energy and water usage

We switch off any manually operated lighting, computers, other appliances, air conditioning etc. when not in use.
We switch off any on-stage sound equipment and stage lights for the periods between sound checks and performances.
The decorative plants on the stage are water efficient and do not require constant watering.