Turku is already feverishly waiting for the awarding of the Michelin stars in June. The event brings an unprecedented amount of international media attention to Turku.
Michelin stars will be awarded next summer for the first time ever in Finland. The stars of the Nordic countries will be awarded on June 12 in Turku, and to celebrate this, the city is organizing the Turku food weeks event. Turku food weeks are organized from 5th to 18th. June.
– We wanted to create a program around the Michelin stars that our own operators can participate in, and that’s why we organize the Turku food weeks, says the project manager Heli Nieminen From the city of Turku.
– It seems that the whole city is excitedly waiting for summer, and the operators in the food industry have a strong desire and interest to be part of this. We have an unbelievably great camaraderie between entrepreneurs here.
Turku’s food weeks include the city’s largest picnic and a children’s day. As part of the food weeks, stands will also be implemented in the city, where you can watch the Michelin star distribution in Logomo live. The stands are organized in Hansakorttel and in connection with Kirkkopuisto Terrace.
– This is an insanely big thing for Turku. Michelin has more than two million social media followers, and the event brings a huge amount of media attention to Turku. I cannot say the exact number of guests, but we are talking about hundreds of people, Nieminen says.
Will there be more stars?
Turku’s Kaskis is Finland’s only Michelin restaurant, which is located somewhere other than Helsinki.
– Getting that star opened up the game for the rest of Finland as well and it was such a great thing that we have hardly recovered from it even now, Nieminen says with a laugh.
Michelin stars have to be earned anew every year, and the city is already eagerly awaiting the star awarding ceremony of the coming summer. However, Nieminen is not worried that Kaskis won’t get a star this year as well.
– The standard of the restaurant is so amazing.
Or has Nieminen heard rumors about Michelin inspectors roaming the city? Has anyone encountered the mysterious inspectors?
– I haven’t heard anything, but I understand that they do come here regularly.