2G festival
A large number of the artists performing at 2G Festival have roots outside the country where they have grown up in, the others are simply otherwise brilliant. Expect intriguing new Finnish artists and rare performances from seasoned acts. Our programme spans other genres besides music such as visual arts and talks. 2G stands for second-generation immigrants, a second perspective and everything else supporting equality and fairness. We are a part of the official Oulu2026 programme.
The Soundtrack of Our lives
The Soundtrack of Our Lives (Gothenburg, Sweden) has returned to the stage after a ten-year hiatus. Their performance at the 2G Festival in Oulu will be their only appearance in Finland this summer. The Soundtrack of Our Lives has released six albums and received a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album. When the band went on hiatus in 2013, Noel Gallagher famously remarked: “This is a fucking sad day for rock ’n’ roll.” The respected British newspaper The Guardian has hailed TSOOL as arguably the greatest rock band in the world.
Litku Klemetti
World premiere: as a special performance, Litku Klemetti will perform their forthcoming rock album Sata pahaa poikaa, which is due for release this autumn. The album dives into the deep end of rock music and evokes the spirit of decades past.
“We’ve finally made a proper rock album, as deep down we basically are a rock band, and our ever intensifying live shows have been steering us in this direction. The upcoming album has been inspired, among other things, by my father’s youth at vocational school and his love of Deep Purple in the 1970s.”
It is common knowledge that Litku “Sanna” Klemetti has her roots in Kuhmo, but as a matter of fact, nearly half of the band hails from Oulu. Sanna’s husband and Litku’s guitarist, Pekka Tuomi, is originally from Oulu, and the band’s drummer, Sami Keinänen, has played floorball at Finnish champion level for OLS. Few people know that at the age of 18, Sami got a Sigur Rós tattoo based on the cover of their album Ágætis byrjun. And if they are sounding like Heep, correcting that into Purple, this sounds like progress!,
Aknestik 40-v
Aknestik was founded in the summer of 1986 on route to Roskilde, where its founding members, Kai Latvalehto and Jukka Takalo, were headed to see Sielun Veljet (who never were scheduled to play at the festival) and The Replacements (whose entire European tour had been cancelled—news that, regrettably, never reached the blockheads from Haukipudas).
The band’s 40th anniversary will be marked with a special performance at the 2G Festival. Aknestik’s wild years came to a halt in 2002 under dubious circumstances, yet in recent times they have performed with sporadic regularity—largely because the prevailing view, also outside the band, is that they are in finer form than ever before.
Latvalehto has, in a sense, lumped a career out of his Sweden-Finnish heritage; he was named the Sweden-Finn of the Year in 2013, thanks to the documentary Finnish Blood Swedish Heart. Meanwhile, Takalo—world championer of air guitar—also has genuine Sweden-Finnish roots, having been born in Skinnskatteberg, Sweden, as the son of a miner.
2nd Generation Lynx Larynx
2nd Generation Lynx Larynx is the 2G Festival’s own supergroup. Love Antell, a Sweden-Finnish artist and Jarkko Martikainen, born in the former GDR, have composed a full-length album to be released at the Oulu2026 Opening Festival in January. An exclusive advance listening event will take place in Oulu on January 17, 2026, at Bar1, at 3:00 PM.
The album’s string arrangements are by Lara Poe, a Bostonian composer with maternal roots in Oulu. Poe is a distinguished composer of contemporary classical music. Her compositions have been performed at the Helsinki Festival closing concert and at the prestigious BBC Proms in 2024. The material of 2nd Generation Lynx Larynx at 2G FESTIVAL will be premiered by an extended ten person ensemble.
Kissa
2G FESTIVAL
22–23 May 2026
PRUNNITORI, OULU
Mikko Alatalo - Siirtomaasuomen laulut
Emilia Sisco
LOUIE BLUE
GRANDE MAHOGANY
DJ HARRI MÄNTY
Radiopuhelimet 40-v
CONTACT
ORGANISER
Ossian Marttala
ORGANISER
Kai Latvalehto
info@2gfestival.fi