Having grown out of the Helsinki club scene, where it started in 2004, Flow has always drawn a fashion-forward, gender diverse crowd, and the festival’s almost utopic sense of “an equal, safe space where everyone is loved and seen,” as Uusitupa sees it, is part of its broader appeal, something she would want to preserve even if Flow ends up needing to move. For years now, the elephant in the room has been the city’s plans to redevelop the Suvilahti site into a permanent, gigantic event hub, forcing out many of its current residents, including Flow. “I’m really fighting for this venue,” she says with some bite. “And if we’re still here in 5 years that would make me really proud.”

For now, though, on the ground, there’s very little sense of a festival in limbo. Despite the circulation hiccups, this year’s Flow feels perfectly assured. Previous headliners Florence + The Machine and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are back in a big way, drawing huge and deeply invested crowds, while Swedish candy coloured popstar Zara Larsson proves the perfect fit for a Friday night, giving the crowd exactly what they wanted. 

It may be Larsson’s first time at Flow but not in Finland, making Sombr, the loose-limbed 21-year-old from NYC, the most awaited Finnish debut of the festival. Credit where it’s due, his stagecraft is fully on point, but the songs are less so, with the ploddingly derivative “I Wish I Knew How to Quit You” being the worst of the duds.