Midnight Sun Film Festival. Sodankylä is a 9 000-person village on the Kemijoki river, and once a year, in mid-June, it becomes the most surreal cinema…
Midnight Sun Film Festival: they screen films at 03:00 in full daylight.
Sodankylä is a 9 000-person village on the Kemijoki river, and once a year, in mid-June, it becomes the most surreal cinema festival in the world. The Midnight Sun Film Festival runs four days and dozens of screenings around the clock; nobody sleeps, because the sun doesn't set. Outside festival week the scene is a hotel bar and a couple of local pubs. Show up for the festival, or come for the quiet.
Hotel bar in the centre: open till 01:00.
Terrace on the Kitinen riverbank; live performers in summer.
Living-room café-bar in the centre: the local hangout.
Midnight Sun Film Festival runs mid-June; book accommodation 6 months ahead.
Outside festival week: bar life is quiet, mostly hotel.
The 17th-century wooden church is one of Finland's oldest.
Last call 01:00 most of the year; later during festival week.