Iisalmi Pride 2025

Iisalmi Pride took place from July 9–13, 2025, and was the first Pride event in the city’s history. The theme of the event was “Community and Privacy.” The program included discussion sessions, workshops, gatherings, evening events, a Pride parade, a park festival, a rainbow mass, and performances and exhibitions by LGBTQIA+ artists. According to the event’s website, the goal was to raise awareness about the lives of sexual and gender minorities in Upper Savo and to strengthen equality, safety, and cooperation in the region.

The event was conceived and organized by Veli Toppinen, a cultural and event producer originally from Iisalmi, who had moved back to his hometown after spending about 35 years in southern Finland. Toppinen was responsible for organizing the event together with a working group of about 20 people, and the goal was to make it an annual event.

Iisalmi Pride was significant precisely because of its local nature. Pride events are often perceived as events for large cities, but Iisalmi Pride brought the rights, visibility, and safety of the LGBTQ+ community directly into the public sphere of Upper Savo. This is particularly important in smaller communities, where opportunities for people belonging to minority groups to find a community and peer support may be more limited.

The event also sparked opposition and public debate even before it took place. Kati Åhman, then-chair of the Iisalmi City Council, expressed concern about what form the event would take and criticized, in particular, the “excesses” and visibility she associated with Pride. The city council, however, granted Iisalmi Pride event funding without a vote. Toppinen responded to the concerns by emphasizing that the event would be safe and community-oriented, and invited critics to discuss their fears and prejudices.

The opposition wasn’t just talk. During Pride Week, a masked man attempted to damage both an art installation at the Koivukuja Biennial and a Pride banner mounted on a tall scaffold in downtown Iisalmi. The police intervened, and ultimately no significant damage was done to the artworks.

However, the level of local support was evident. The City of Iisalmi welcomed the event week and announced that it would be supporting several program items as a sponsor. Those involved in the planning included the city, the parish, the youth council, the Boy Scouts, local entrepreneurs, and cultural organizations. The event’s patrons were actress, director, and author Minna Kivelä, as well as Ulla Hurskainen, Director of Human Resources and Well-being at the University of Eastern Finland.

Iisalmi Pride 2025 was therefore more than just a single parade. It was a local cultural and human rights event that simultaneously highlighted support, suspicion, resistance, and the need to build a safer public space in the everyday life of smaller towns as well.