Arctic Pulse Producers Network 2025 brought cultural professionals together in Kiruna
On 12–13 November 2025, Arctic Pulse Producers Network gathered producers, organisers, artistic leaders and cultural strategists from Sweden, Finland and Norway in Kiruna for two days of exchange, collaboration and new ideas. The gathering combined workshops and meetings with a programme that also opened out toward the wider cultural field in Kiruna.
At the heart of the meeting were the thematic working groups. Participants worked in groups for classical/orchestra, children & youth, folk music, festivals/events, jazz, choir, cultural policy & strategy, and electronic music, with a clear goal: to leave Kiruna not only with new contacts, but with concrete ideas and next steps for future cross-border collaboration. For Arctic Pulse, this is what Producers Network is about — creating the conditions for new co-productions, touring ideas, programming exchanges and long-term partnerships across the North.
The public programme added another dimension to the gathering. In collaboration with North Creative Nodes, Arctic Pulse took part in a Culture Breakfast on international perspectives on the European Capital of Culture. Together with Arctic Light Film Festival, the programme also included the Sweden premiere of SÁMIS, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Roman Jehanno.
The gathering closed with Movits! & Norrbotten Big Band in an industrial venue at Maskinvägen 1 in Kiruna. The concert was more than a finale — it was also a pilot linked to Kiruna 2029 / 100 Stages and a way of showing how culture can be created in unexpected spaces. Instead of using a traditional concert hall, Arctic Pulse chose an industrial setting to inspire new ways of thinking about where music and cultural experiences can happen.
The work that started in Kiruna continues. Several of the working groups have stayed in contact after the event, and the dialogue continued at the next Producers Network in Oulu. For Arctic Pulse, Kiruna became an important step in building long-term cross-border collaboration across the northern music and cultural field.