March Newsletter
13.3.2026
Allianssi Youth Exchanges newsletter in English
🌞 March Newsletter: blossom by blossom, the spring begins 🌷
Welcome back to the Allianssi Youth Exchanges newsletter in English! 🐸
Content of this month's newsletter in a nutshell:
🐥 Folk it up! festival – Oranssi, Suvilahti on March 21st and 22nd
🐸 Deeds of Hope – this month on Tuesday, March 31st
🐥 Call for group leaders
🐸 Workcamp season is here!
🐥 Upcoming events
🔅 Celebrating the return of spring with dance:
The Folk it Up! Equinox Festival 🌙
Our solidarity project Folk it Up! is going out in style! 💃
This wonderful project that brought together a fantastic community full of joy and dance deserves a big finale so we will give it one 👀
Folk it Up Equinox festival
21.-22.3.2026
Oranssi, Helsinki
✨ A two-day event filled with dance workshops and music, open to anyone regardless of age, skill level or which language they speak. You can attend as many workshops as you want but registration is compulsory, you can sign up on our website. Space is limited so make sure to register early so you don't miss out!
You can find the full programme of the event here.
Practical Info
📆 Date: Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd of March
📍 Location: Oranssi (Suvilahti), Kaasutehtaankatu 1, 00540 Helsinki. Oranssi is wheelchair accessible and has accessible toilets.
💰 Cost: Free! But registration is required - sign up here.
🌍 Language: The event is in English, but no worries if you’re not fluent—dance is universal! Plus, Finnish-speaking volunteers will be around to help.
🗣️ Tapahtuma järjestetään englanniksi, mutta pärjäät tapahtumassa myös ilman kummempaa kielitaitoa.
⚠️ Allianssi nuorisovaihto does not provide insurance, all participants attend at their own risk.
🌱 What is Folk it Up?
Folk it Up! is a European Solidarity Corps (ESC) Solidarity Project, co-funded by the European Union. It’s free of charge, targeted to youth but open to everyone and volunteer-led. The project runs from September 2025 to March 2026, and you’re welcome to join at any time.
👉 Want to join the volunteer team? Send us an email at youth@alli.fi—we'd love to hear from you!
📲 Follow us on social media or check our website for updates on locations and program details. Read more about the project here.
📝 Registration form
🎟️ The event is free, but registration is mandatory.
🌈 Folk it up is a European Solidarity Corps solidarity project, run by volunteers. The bi-monthly events bring together international and local youth to learn about balfolk. During each event we learn new folk dances originating from different countries around the world and practice previously learned ones. We socialise, connect and, of course, enjoy some vegan snacks together!
🌈 The events have become a joyful and vibrant community where everyone is welcome.
🌈 We follow safer space principles at the events and only serve vegan food. The event will have a designated safer space contact person available.
🌈 Exploring inclusive spaces: Deeds of Hope x Trans Library Helsinki 📚
For our March edition of Deeds of Hope, we are collaborating with Trans Library Helsinki, for a special day dedicated to community, creativity and sharing stories. 🌈
The event will be hosted directly in the library, where participants will get to learn more about the story of this space, its collection and the work behind it.
As usual, we will also share a vegan meal together, cooked by our volunteers with primarily seasonal and locally produced ingredients. 🌮
The next part of the event will include a badge-making workshop, where everyone can design their own pins to express identity, solidarity and their own creativity. 🤝❤️
Please note that the number of participants is limited, so make sure to register in advance to not miss your spot!
Program of the evening:
🕠 17:00–18:00 – Introduction of Trans Library Helsinki, its history and creation
🍲 18:00–18:45 – Dinner break – free vegan food!
🥁 18:45 onwards – Badge-making workshop
Practical Info
📆 Date: Tuesday, March 31st
🕕 Time: 17:00-20:00
📍 Location: Korppaanmäentie 21A AL4, 00300 Helsinki. The Trans Library is wheelchair accessible and has accessible toilets.
💰 Cost: Free! But registration is required—sign up here.
🌍 Language: The event is in English, but no worries if you’re not fluent. Finnish-speaking volunteers will be around to help.
🗣️ Tapahtuma järjestetään englanniksi, mutta pärjäät tapahtumassa myös ilman kummempaa kielitaitoa.
📝Registration form
🎟️ The event is free of charge, but registration is required for organizational purposes. Please register 1 day before the event at the latest. You can find more information about the event and the registration form at this link.
Deeds of Hope 🌼 is a European Solidarity Corps (ESC) solidarity project. It's created by youth, run by volunteers, and co-funded by the European Union.
It consists of a series of monthly events where we meet to share knowledge about activism and social engagement, explore the impact of Helsinki’s changemakers, and learn how to become part of movements for change.
We’ll get our hands dirty in practical workshops, where each month’s featured movement or organization shares hands-on skills and knowledge gained from their experience in activism.
We also offer free plant-based meals 🌱, cooked by our volunteers with primarily seasonal and locally produced ingredients.
Do you want to join our volunteer crew, too? 🤸♀️ Send us an email youth@alli.fi to get on board!
We don’t ask for any specific requirements — just the motivation to contribute to a meaningful project, even through small acts that make a difference.
🌼 Become a group leader! 📣
Are you interested in internationalism at home? Apply to be a group leader for our international volunteer camps in different parts of Finland this summer! 🦋
The camps last 2-3 weeks and bring together international volunteers from different parts of the world to work on community service projects together with the local community. During spring and summer 2026, we organise around 10 workcamps and volunteering teams across Finland.
As a group leader, you are one of the camp participants, but your tasks also include communicating between the group and the camp host, camp communication, and ensuring that everything goes according to plan and that the volunteers actively participate in the project. As a group leader, you do not lead the camp, but you make sure that practical matters are taken care of and that everyone feels safe. Especially at the beginning of the camp, an important task is to help the campers get to know each other and Finland. 💫
Does this sound like you? Then we can't wait to hear from you! You can find more information about all the available camps and the application form on our website. 🌞
A full-day training will be organized for the selected group guides in Helsinki on April 17th.
🐞 The 2026 workcamp season is now open! 💪
Spring has arrived (at least to Helsinki) and with it the 2026 workcamp season. All the workcamps across Europe and the world are now published and ready to receive your application! 🎉
Follow the instructions on our website to find the right camp for you.
Participation in camps organised by Allianssi in Finland is free for all Finland residents. Travel costs will be covered for participants of EYA camps.
These are our upcoming camps in Finland:
🥜 Nut Orchards EYA - Karjalohja, 26.4. - 9.5.2026 🌳
Set in a rural village Karjalohja, your work at this camp will include gardening in and taking care of a nut tree nursery, making new growing beds, transplanting trees, mulching, potting the plants etc. The organisers, GEN Finland, are experts on permaculture design, plant nursing and creating forest gardens. During the camp you can learn about different methods of sustainable gardening and plant nursing while working on diverse tasks.
This camp is a part of the project European Youth in Action: policymakers for climate justice, supported by the CERV programme, improving competences in concrete actions for climate justice. The horizontal theme of this camp is biodiversity.
🎉 World Village EYA - Helsinki, 12.5. - 20.5.2026 🙌
Fingo (Finnish Development NGOs) organizes the yearly World Village Festival in Helsinki which is Finland’s leading event for global action for the whole family, a free cultural festival and a trade fair for sustainable development. World Village raises global challenges and solutions, increases understanding and provides concrete ways to take action to create change. The program will consist of concerts, discussions, and workshops. As a volunteer during this workcamp, you will help build up the festival, set up tents, install the signs and banners, keep the festival grounds tidy and then help take down the festival.
This camp is a part of the project European Youth in Action: policymakers for climate justice, supported by the CERV programme, improving competences in concrete actions for climate justice. The horizontal theme of this camp is greenwashing.
Detailed guide on how to find all the workcamps and how to apply can be found on our social media or on our website nuorisovaihto.fi (click on Vapaaehtoisleirien hakukone (E-Vet) at the top of the page).
🎀 Upcoming events 🎀
Here's a short overview of what's coming up next with Allianssi Youth Exchanges:
Folk it up! Equinox festival 21.-22.03. 💫 A wonderful weekend filled with dancing and fun! This is the last official event of the solidarity project so make sure you don't miss out and sign up on nuorisovaihto.fi
Deeds of Hope will be back again next month. Our activism solidarity project will continue its monthly events with all the important information about the next collaboration published on our website and social media closer to the event!
Campleader training - are you interested in becoming a camp leader? The training for 2026 group leaders is coming up on April 17th. Save the date! 📆
Our first workcamp of the season! The Nut orchards EYA workcamp starts at the end of April and spaces are filling fast so hurry up and apply through e-vet!
As always, follow our social media and our website 🤳 to stay up to date on current events!
See you again in April! 🐌