NATUREFIN 2026 –Welcome to Dinner
As a part of the NATUREFIN Project Meeting, the City of Heinola is hosting a project dinner celebrating the meeting – and the Finnish Midsummer. From venue choice to the menu, the experience has been planned to promote local heritage and showcase good project practices.
Bistro Tango & Matto
The choice of Bistro Tango & Matto is the first step in creating a local and sustainable dinner experience. The Nordic-French restaurant is located in a historical building, built in the 1800s to function as a distillery and later a power plant, laundry, and night club. It has even survived near-by bombings in the 1940s. This evolution is an excellent example of re-purposing old buildings to cherish their history and extend material lifespan. The restaurant interior also pays respect to the building’s past. Tango & Matto sits right beneath Heinola’s iconic railway bridge by the river Kymi, and it is accessible accessible by foot, public transport and car.
Good Project Practices
The Project Dinner at Bistro Tango & Matto is a demonstration of good, sustainable project practices. The Midsummer dinner incorporates Finnish delicacies and seasonal ingredients into traditional summer cuisine in a historical restaurant environment. Emphasis on local wild-caught fish and plant-based foods lowers the event’s carbon footprint, and the experience is only enhanced by the sustainable choices preserving both local food culture and natural environments.
Planning a Sustainable Meeting
The Heinola Project Meeting is designed to consider both the natural and cultural environment.
Sustainable Eating
Food is an essential part of both cultural exchange and sustainable event design. The Project Dinner is designed to minimize harmful environmental effects, and it includes local and seasonal ingredients like fresh greens and berries, and wild-caught fish from lake Päijänne. By prioritizing locally produced foods and offering plant-based menu options the event can both decrease transportation emissions and support the community’s own food production. Heinola is also very proud to have some of the world’s cleanest tap water, which dinner guests will be served instead of bottled options.
No single-use napkins or tableware are used, and the amount of food is adjusted to the diners to reduce waste. Similarly, any sign-posting, decorations or other physical materials are kept to a minimum, utilizing digital alternatives and allowing the restaurant surroundings to shine.
Celebrating the Finnish Midsummer
In addition to the awaited project meeting, the evening is a celebration of the approaching Midsummer or juhannus. There is no single correct way to celebrate the Finnish Midsummer, but a selection of some widely beloved traditions has been woven into the dinner experience to introduce the guests to local cultural heritage.
Finnish Midsummer is all about enjoying the lush nature and midnight sun, preferably by the water. While guests are not taken to a remote summer cottage in the woods to have a Midsummer barbeque, the dinner takes place by the flowing river surrounded by greenery and songbirds. Some traditional food items like fish, peas and strawberries will be served with wild floral decorations that are crucial in achieving the Midsummer atmosphere.
Originally Midsummer was dedicated to the Finnish god of weather and thunder, Ukko. Many traditions trace back to rituals meant to bring a plentiful harvest and good luck in love, as well as banish any evil presences. These include burning bonfires or juhannuskokko, getting tipsy, dancing, Midsummer spells and, of course, the sauna. Anyone interested in these traditions may pay a visit to one of Heinola’s many saunas or maybe try one of the spells below.
Seven flowers
Pick seven different flowers and place them under your pillow. In a dream you’ll see you future spouse.
The cuckoo bird
The number of ’cuckoos’ you hear on Midsummer night equals the number of years until you get married.
Fern flowers
Ferns do not produce flowers – except on Midsummer night. Finding some will grant you magic powers.
Virvatuli
Virvatuli is a mysterious flame that sometimes appears in the woods or swampy areas. Underneath it, you might find a treasure.
Jump over the bonfire
Jumping over the bonfire (or preferably just the embers left behind) will bring good luck.
Toss the vihta/vasta
After sauna, throw the vihta or vasta (a tied bundle of birch twigs) on the sauna roof. The handle will point to the direction of your future spouse.
Gaze into a well
Gazing naked into a well will show you the reflection of your future spouse. But be careful that the water spirit Näkki doesn’t pull you in!
Don’t forget the sauna gnome
Especially during celebrations like the Midsummer, the last sauna session should be reserved for saunatonttu, a gnome-like protector of the sauna. Otherwise, he’ll get angry.