Helsinki’s Culinary Forerunner’s Take on the City’s Oldest Food Tradition with Ten New Takes on Herring

Modern version of the herring dish by Restaurant Nolla. Photo: Restaurant Nolla

Helsinki, 16 September 2026 — The local restaurants kickstart the herring season with an ode to the local delicacy. From 25 September to 10 October, ten kitchens across the city will each serve a herring dish of their own design, as part of a brand-new event: Helsinki Baltic Herring Market in Restaurants.

It's the first time when Herring Market, first organised in mid-1700s, has spilled beyond the harbour and into the city's dining rooms — and for organisers, it's a natural next step.

"The Herring Market is Helsinki's most important food event, and herring is one of our most important domestic ingredients," says Saara Vanhala, executive producer of the Helsinki Baltic Herring Market. "Bringing restaurants into the picture lets us build something more experiential: a market tradition that now reaches further across the city, where centuries of maritime food culture meet the kind of cooking Helsinki is known for today."
More traditional herring dish by Finnjävel Sali, Photo: Finnjävel Sali
A bigger market is still to come

The restaurant weeks are a warm-up act. The Helsinki Baltic Herring Market itself returns to Market Square in early October with its widest selection yet but this year, the taste of autumn arrives early, as ten restaurants in the heart of the city open their own herring-themed menus starting 25 September.

Ten kitchens, ten takes on herring

The participating restaurants are Aoi, Elm, Finnjävel Sali, Gastro Cafe Kallio, Klaava, Maukku, Nokka, Nolita, Nolla, and Sake Bar & Izakaya — each debuting a herring dish developed specifically for the event.

The concept was created together with Helsinki chef and restaurateur Luka Balać, whose own restaurants Nolita, Nolla, and Elm are among those taking part.

"In my opinion, the Herring Market is Helsinki's most important food event, just as herring is one of our most important domestic ingredients. I want to showcase it again, in the light it deserves," says Balać.
Herring toast. Photo: Restaurant Elm
Weeks in the making

Each dish has been weeks in development — ten different answers to the same humble, brilliant fish. Across the city, herring will be rolled, grilled, smoked, and dressed in marinades that range from classic to unexpected, plated alongside house-baked breads and the season's first harvest: pickled, fermented, caramelised, and preserved ingredients that carry summer's flavours into autumn.
Every restaurant will keep its dish on the menu throughout the full run. Along the way, judges from the Gastronomic Society of Finland will visit all ten kitchens to taste the competition, crowning the "Best Herring Dish of the Year" on the market's opening day — Sunday, 4 October.
Helsinki Baltic Herring Market, Photo: Nicole Bittger / Helsinki Partners

A tradition since 1743

The Helsinki Baltic Herring Market itself is one of Finland's oldest public events, held continuously since 1743. This year's edition runs 4–10 October at Market Square, bringing together archipelago tradition and contemporary food culture on an even bigger scale. The full programme for market week will be released on Wednesday, 16 September.
 

More information

Sara Jäntti
Senior Manager, PR & Communications, Helsinki Partners
+358408377496
sara.jantti@helsinkipartners.com
More about the event:
Helsinki Baltic Herring Market
4–10 October 2026
Helsinki, Finland
www.silakkamarkkinat.fi/en/

Helsinki Partners is a city marketing, investment and talent attraction company owned by the City of Helsinki. Their mission is to promote the city’s sustainable growth; attract international investment, businesses, talent and visitors, and to conduct international sales and marketing, as well as build Helsinki’s brand globally. 

For more information, please visit www.myhelsinki.fi