Story of Glow Festival

Ohjelmatoimisto Kristalli’s CEO Johanna Vauto had been developing the idea of a large-scale gospel concert together with a few partners for some time.

Over the years, Kristalli has produced major concert hall and church tours across the country.

In October 2022, Johanna had the opportunity to meet Kalervo Kummola, former Mayor of Tampere. Over a cup of coffee, it became clear that—without knowing of each other’s plans—they both shared the same vision: a major gospel concert at Nokia Arena in 2024.

Sparked by this shared idea, the Kristalli team began developing the project with full commitment.

“Our goal is to make this an annual event, and the first year 2024 was a tribute to everyone who has, through their life’s work, built Finnish gospel music,” says Kristalli CEO Johanna Vauto.

The Story of Finnish Gospel Music

The story of Finnish gospel music is truly fascinating. Its first sparks were ignited not only on Finnish soil, but also in Namibia, where two of our most significant songwriters—Jaakko Löytty and Pekka Simojoki—grew up and played their first chords.

Finnish gospel music began modestly, but over time it has grown into a significant cultural movement of its own. What started with the dedication of a handful of artists has evolved into decades-long life’s work. Its roots lie in confirmation camp campfires, where people sang together familiar songs by Simojoki, Löytty, and others.

Gospel music became firmly established in Finland alongside proclaiming gospel bands such as Pro Fide. Over the decades, a culture has formed around gospel songs—confirmation camp hymns and hit songs alike—that have flowed into mainstream culture through creators raised within gospel music.

However, Finnish gospel music is no longer confined to campfire songs. Gospel in Finland has come of age. Today it reaches a significant adult audience, while a new generation is rising. The same timeless message continues to call and touch hearts. The legacy of the pioneer generation lives on. What would a culture built around Christian values be without music? Music is what unites and creates identity.

Glow Festival brings together people from different generations and backgrounds. Familiar songs create nostalgia while keeping the flame of gospel alive. The glow of campfire songs still burns strong—and at Nokia Arena, people gather around the biggest campfire ever.

The word Glow means to shine and to radiate. It reflects the warm glow of a campfire that carries the message of gospel music. Now is the time to come together and celebrate the story, creators, and message of Finnish gospel music. Now we celebrate—bigger than ever before.

Purpose

The human need for community has not disappeared. We long for connection. Christian music has always united, comforted, encouraged, and carried people—and now more than ever, it is needed. We want to see a vibrant, high-quality, forward-looking major event for spiritual music that inspires faith in the future.

International Reach

Glow aims to grow into an international event. We collaborate with Christian events across Europe, and through strong international partnerships and networks, we will see guest artists and influencers from different countries appear on the Glow stage in the years to come.

Values

It is important to us that Glow Festival is built on values that guide both its content and production choices. Glow Festival is a community event, and we want to openly share the values it represents. Glow Festival’s core values are:

• Meaningfulness
• High quality
• Community
• Experiential impact
• Spiritual music
• Innovative leadership

Glow Festival was originally born from a shared dream among different actors—to come together to celebrate Finnish gospel music bigger than ever before, beyond church boundaries, generational divides, and anything that separates us.

At the heart of everything is meaningfulness—the kind that powerful music creates. Finnish gospel music reaches a vast audience and generates faith, hope, and love. That is meaningful. Our dream is that this event would radiate that same unifying power of music and message.

Respecting the history and story of Finnish gospel music, we want to invest in quality and give domestic gospel the recognition it deserves. This is not done alone—and it would not be possible without you, dear listeners and friends of gospel music.

Our dream is that everyone attending the event would experience something moving and unique in their hearts through music and encounters. We hope that everyone feels safe and accepted. We hope that the unifying power of gospel music leaves a lasting impact on people’s lives and strengthens the communities that take part.

Glow Festival also wants to innovate and learn. We are committed to sustainable development as a major event, and we refuse to stand still. Instead, we boldly aim to build an annual highlight for the gospel music scene.

This is Glow.
And you are an important part of it.

With passion and heartfelt dedication, the entire Glow team—artists included—is making this happen. Thank you to every single person who makes this possible. 💛