Uncertainty about former Hartwall Arena: Queen + Adam Lambert’s Finland shows relocated to Tampere

As we have reported before, the former Hartwall Arena – which is now called Helsinki Halli – is facing an uncertain future. Since 2013, the largest concert venue in Finland’s capital Helsinki is owned by Russian oligarchs – Gennady Timchenko and the brothers Arkady and Boris Romanovich Rotenberg – who are now on the EU sanctions list, in conjunction with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In order to avoid association with the Russian main owners, the Helsinki-based beverage company Hartwall, largest sponsor and holder of the naming rights to the arena, ended its sponsorship and had all Hartwall signs removed from the venue’s walls on 2 March 2022. At the same time, event organisers who had bookings for the arena started to look for alternative venues. These bookings included amongst others concerts by Manowar, Björk, KISS, The Cure, Queen + Adam Lambert and Elton John. After Björk‘s Finland show had to be cancelled altogether and Manowar‘s Finland date had been postponed and relocated from Helsinki to Espoo, there are now further updates.

The two Finland shows by Queen + Adam Lambert will take place on the same dates as before, but the concerts will be relocated from Helsinki to Tampere:

“Queen + Adam Lambert concerts previously planned for Hartwall Arena (Helsinki Halli) have been moved to Nokia Arena in Tampere. Show dates will remain the same: July 24 and 25, 2022. […] Tickets purchased for the Hartwall Arena show will not be valid for the new venue. Lippupiste will automatically deliver new tickets to all ticket buyers by email during Spring 2022. If you have not received your new ticket by June 30th, please contact Lippupiste. You have the opportunity to return your already purchased tickets to Ticketmaster until April 19th, 2022. […] VR will arrange an additional train for those traveling towards Helsinki after the concerts – tickets will go on sale during the spring at vr.fi.”

– Live Nation Finland

Tickets, ticket refund forms and further information can be found here.

Also the date of KISS‘ Finland show remains unchanged. The concert even remains in Helsinki, just being moved some two kilometres to the Helsinki Ice Hall:

“KISS concert previously planned for Hartwall Arena (Helsinki Halli) has been moved to the Helsinki Ice Hall. Show date will remain the same: June 20, 2022. […] There are a very limited number of seats at the event, and we want to make sure you have still the opportunity to enjoy the show at the new venue as well. So, hold on to your ticket: Ticketmaster will automatically deliver new tickets to all ticket buyers by email during Spring 2022. Tickets purchased for the Hartwall Arena show will not be valid for the new venue. If you have not received your new ticket by May 31st, please contact Ticketmaster. You have the opportunity to return your tickets to their point of purchase (Ticketmaster) until April 12th, 2022.”

– Live Nation Finland

Tickets, ticket refund forms and further information can be found here.

The two Finland dates of Elton John‘s farewell tour “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” had to be cancelled altogether. At first, the concerts were postponed several times, due to the ongoing pandemic. The last update was that the shows were supposed to take place in September 2023:

“Unfortunately, it has been necessary to cancel the Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour dates at the Hartwall Arena, Helsinki […] Every effort has been made to reschedule the dates, but it has become clear that this will not be possible. Customers are therefore asked to return tickets to their point of purchase. […] We are very sorry for the inconvenience and would like to offer the Finnish fans the opportunity to purchase tickets for the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour at the Tele2 Arena, Stockholm on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 July 2023.”

– Live Nation Finland

Ticket refund requests must be made by 18 May 2022. Further information can be found here.

As far as the concert by The Cure is concerned, the organisers seem to be still looking for an alternative venue.

While the former Hartwall Arena could face a forced sale if its debts are unpaid, Juhana Vartiainen, Mayor of Helsinki, early on expressed concern that Helsinki may lose events:

“This can have a negative impact on what kind of event host city Helsinki can be. Unfortunately, some events may move out of town”

– Juhana Vartiainen