SibaFest

War, prison camps, famine and death are rather less than cheerful topics to feature at a music festival. Sibafest 2018, organised by the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, managed to find optimism within its chosen theme of #civilpeace – a message of peace, future, reconciliation and coexistence.

"Laitinen flexes his vocals to varied roles, portraying the whole spectrum of emotions: humour, jealousy, love, sadness, smugness, weakness, cruelty and the feeling of abandonment. As the ballads open a window into humanity, you forget the theme of murder...