The April 2026 edition of the ECHN Family Brunch takes us to Helsinki, Finland, where we’ll get to know KAAPELI, the massive creative hub of Finland, featured in this month’s traditional Hub Spotlight.
KAAPELI (aka Kiinteistö Oy Kaapelitalo), officially established in 1991, emerged from the transformation of an old Nokia cable factory into a thriving hub for artists, cultural organizations, and creative industry companies. After Nokia relocated its cable manufacturing, the City of Helsinki acquired the building and formed KAAPELI to manage its new purpose as a cultural space. This mission expanded in 2008 with the addition of Suvilahti, a former gas plant repurposed into a creative village and event area. In 2020, a former pharmaceutical factory, N10, was acquired and repurposed into a cultural hub, followed by the completion of Dance House Helsinki in 2021, an extension to the Cable Factory.
Today, KAAPELI oversees approximately 100,000 square meters of creative space, housing around 700 actors in the cultural and creative industries. The spaces accommodate a wide range of activities, from individual artists and museums to cultural organizations and creative enterprises. Over 400 events take place each year, attracting nearly 2 million visitors.
From Helsinki, we then travel to Italy and Greece to meet two of the newest members of the ECHN community: The Weigh Station (Bozen-Bolzano, Italy) and Odyssea (Athens, Greece).
With their introduction, we continue our new format: Hub Appetizers, offering the same haute-cuisine content, served in a more compact format.
Don’t miss our monthly family meeting on Friday, 3rd of April at 11:00 am CET! Join us through this link.
Reminder: if you wish to add your Hubs' News (events, open calls, new ventures) to our Newsletter, you can use this link to submit the info until the 9th April!
If you’d like to be featured in a future Hub Spotlight or Hub appetizer, please reach out pepe@creativehubs.net
ECHN Family Brunch is a monthly online gathering of the creative hubs community, a time to connect, meet both new and experienced members, share ideas, and discuss initiatives across the network in a relaxed and welcoming setting.
