There’s many crazy stories from Vörå that outline how big the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 is for the region. From the sauna travelling on wheels all the way to Basel alongside the 7-day long coach holiday for locals and the whole week of festivities, Vörå is witnessing a cultural wave of enthusiasm it has never seen before. This small district of just over 5,000 people in northwestern Finland – mainly known for its farming, Swedish-language majority and a ski jumping hill and cross-country track – is now being put on the map internationally thanks to KAJ’s Eurovision adventures.
And this underdog story that took the Melodifestivalen crown succeeded is taking both Sweden and Finland by storm. Alexander Beijar, news journalist at Yle Svenska, the Swedish-langauge service of Finnish public broadcaster Yle, has had a personal rollercoaster over the last few months that shows the impact ‘Bara Bada Bastu‘ has had on the world.
Usually Alexander covers Eurovision for only for the Eurovision fortnight itself when public anticipation hots up. However KAJ’s Melodifestivalen win changed that, with any articles featuring KAJ generating “two to three times the number of views” anything else Yle Svenska produced, Alexander explains.
Thus a change of strategy came from Yle Svenska to focus much more on Eurovision. Alexander stopped working on news coverage in March and went all-in on Eurovision, producing podcasts and news articles all about the Song Contest throughout the build-up to Basel. “We’ve heard managers and producers here at Yle claim this is the biggest cultural news story this decade for the Swedish speaking Finns”, says Alexander.
The Dual-National Phenomenon
Alexander Beijar highlights the unprecedented national phenomenon surrounding KAJ, noting “There is such a big interest in having a band from our teeny tiny town of Vörå competing in Eurovision, even if it’s not for Finland but for Sweden. But either way, there is so much pride in having KAJ in Eurovision, which is bigger than a pride I’ve ever seen before in Eurovision in Finland.” This reflects the broader cultural significance, particularly for Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority, who, at about 5% of the population, often struggle for recognition both within Finland and internationally.
Beijar underscores the significance for the minority, “The fact that we now have placed the Swedish-speaking Finns not only on a Finnish map, not only on a European map but on the global map…it feels huge.” The validation of an otherwise disconnected community through KAJ’s success makes it all the more important.
Beijar highlights a Finnish tendency to celebrate success more when it is achieved abroad, which KAJ’s Eurovision journey is a perfect example of. “We have a saying when in Finnish – when Finland is mentioned, let’s go to this market square and celebrate it,” he explains. “And it sounds silly, but that’s how it is. I don’t know what it is with us Finns. I guess we’re just so used to not taking such big pride in anything.”
That maybe explains just why the hype has been so crazy. KAJ’s Melodifestivalen win, and their continuing chart-topping success over in Sweden, is something that perhaps makes the locals even more proud than if the route to Eurovision was via Finland itself. Now the recognition is much bigger, and psychologically more respected for it happening across the border.
Transforming Vörå
Anna Bertils, mayor for Vörå district, has seen KAJ’s victory at Melodifestivalen completely change her day-to-day work. Basically as soon as KAJ were confirmed as the Swedish act, the wheels were set in motion to make the most out of this unique opportunity. That same week saw a motion appear before local politicians to vote on the creation of a project co-ordinator for the district, for communication, publicity, and the organisation of events that makes up the Från Byin till Basel events in Eurovision week.
“This is a new era for our municipality since Vörå is so small,” Anna Bertils states. “It has been a lot about inspiring a new belief in the future, and a hope for the future.” The new project co-ordinator role isn’t set to end until the end of August, and with that the hope is that there will be further events in Vörå throughout the summer aimed at attracting more tourists to the region, with more reasons to visit and celebrate.
Bertils emphasizes KAJ’s role as cultural ambassadors for Vörå, and the huge significance of seeing young Vörå people being successful for being distinctly Vörånian. The area, like many rural areas around the Baltic, has been facing huge demographic and economic challenges in recent years. One of the obvious ones is that young people are moving away to the cultural capitals, be it to regional centre Vaasa, or further afield to Helsinki or Sweden.
“The way KAJ expresses themselves, both in music and in the way they are everyday, is also in many ways the way we are,” Anna explains. “It’s not only their music, it’s also the way they are and behave, you know, It’s a lot about how we are in Ostrobothnia and Vörå.”
“We have a lot of young people moving to Sweden for work and studies. I think that what KAJ has done to Vörå has made us open our eyes and realise that we don’t need to long for the big investments from abroad, we have the culture exports right here. Maybe also we can look for a new way to look at our daily life and culture.”
The Political Dimensions For Local Change
Anna Bertils also addressed with me the broader political context in which Vörå exists, outlining the challenges faced by Finland and their impact on the municipality. Politically, the area is a stronghold for the Svenska Folkpartiet, the Swedish People’s Party of Finland, which has the protection and equal functioning of the Swedish language within Finland as one of its core working goals. At the municipal elections this April, Svenska Folkpartiet received over 90% of the votes in Vörå, and holds 26 of the 27 seats on the local district council.
According to Anna Bertils, economic difficulties and Finland’s sensitivity to the global recession, have been some of the challenges at a local level. This has meant that district budgets have been cut and huge reforms to healthcare, as Finland moves much of the funding away at a district level but to more regional level practice, has been a source of “huge discussions and problems”.
However, Anna notes that the political discourse surrounding April’s elections was very different. Part of that was that the election campaign itself in Vörå was a reduced length because there was so much work and focus surrounding KAJ’s story and Vörå’s managing of that at home. However beyond that Anna also has KAJ to thank for their positive influence on the local political climate.
“The dark side of the politics, where you just see the negativity and you just see the barrier, hasn’t been that present in Vörå this time. I think that’s because of the KAJ effect, that we have talked more about the future than about the problems right now.”
KAJ’s Eurovision journey has directly impacted Vörå by fostering a more positive political discourse and shifting the focus towards future possibilities. It also gives a story of hope. This is more than just a short-term cash-grab looking to get some tourist Euros into the area, but conversations about long-term projects are developing and Anna Bertils has “already noticed more questions about Vörå” coming from possible businesses and investors believing that there is chance to grow in the region. KAJ’s appearance at Eurovision may help Vörå’s cultural recognition, but also go further and help the district reverse its demographic decline and encourage new jobs and new residents to the area.
In short, there might be an impact not just beyond May, but beyond next May and the next May thereafter.
Change Nationally and Internationally
In the week before KAJ journeyed to Basel via Stockholm, the band entertained a special audience at Vörå. Invited to the mini concert wasn’t just every child at school in the district between 7 and 19 years old, but the Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Stubb, the first Finnish President to come to Vörå since the 1950’s, was there to wish KAJ well at the Eurovision Song Contest. Coming on stage to the cheers of local Vörå schoolchildren, Stubb proclaimed “If KAJ win Eurovision, it would in the end mean that Finland and Vörå win”.
The comments drew controversy because of course Finland has their own route to victory through Erika Vikman, an artist who’s deemed by many to be the reason that Finland’s selection show Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu transformed from uncool to cool. And Alexander Stubb, who grew up bilingual with a father from Pedersöre, less than an hour’s drive from Vörå, may have slipped into being too patriotic for Ostrobothnia, rather than Finland as a whole.
Alexander Beijar notes the potential for a “diplomatic crisis” due to the president’s enthusiastic support for KAJ.
“I don’t think that our president really understood what kind of a diplomatic crisis he kind of started when he stood on the stage with KAJ saying that this is the best song this year.
“We have a a win-win situation in Finland this year. We have Erika Vikman, a great artist with a great song and I think she will manage pretty quite well in the competition.
“This makes being a journalist quite difficult because I’m Yle’s journalist and Erika is Yle’s representative. We should build the same hype around Erika as we build around KAJ, but it’s so much easier at the moment to build it around KAJ.”
Beijar does note that efforts have been made to rectify the situation. “I’ve heard that Alexander Stubb has since then been in contact with Erika and given her all the praise as well,” he says. “So everything should be fine. The diplomatic crisis was averted.”
The divisions between the Swedish-speaking community in Finland and the rest of the nation makes this balance tricky. Swedish-language culture is rarely so beloved in Finland like ‘Bara Bada Bastu‘ has been, and it does wonders for the community used to being sidelined. Alexander Beijar spoke about how his Swedish-speaking community has learnt to silence themselves on nights out because there’s a risk that hearing his native language may still offend some Finns. Just in the past month national airline Finnair dropped making announcements in Swedish, now just using Finnish and English instead, another example of where Swedish’s minority language status is culturally at risk. This is a constant bubbling political issue as well, with the True Finns party, that currently share ministerial posts in the Finnish parliament alongside amongst others Svenska Folkpartiet, have previously pledged to remove the compulsory bilingual education that all Finns must start in Swedish from third grade.
“I, as a Swedish speaker, I’ve studied Finnish since third grade, and Finnish speakers have to study Swedish in school,” explains Alexander. “And they (the True Finns party) want that part of the law gone. Now the discussion at the moment hasn’t really changed that much, but I see it more as KAJ and ‘Bara Bada Bastu’ continue being this big just helps the rest of this country to realize that we have our own Swedish-speaking culture, but we are a part of your country.”
This acceptance and celebration of Vörå’s culture within the broader Finnish context is a powerful outcome of KAJ’s Eurovision journey.
Beyond that there’s also the cultural and political implications that a song such as ‘Bara Bada Bastu’ does for Finland, domestically and internationally, and on a united front. It’s been an excuse for sauna culture, and with it sauna tourism, to be pushed everywhere again. With Visit Tampere on board to promote in Basel alongside Vörå, the sauna capital of the world is using what is technically Sweden’s Eurovision entry to promote visiting Finland.
It’s like the two communities are united by music.
Vörå district collaborated with many regions, associations and businesses, within both the Swedish and Finnish speaking communities, to fund their official sauna tour of Europe (Photo: Ben Robertson, EBU)
When Eurovision’s Impact Lasts Beyond The Contest
The Eurovision experience of KAJ holds immense significance for Vörå and Finland, regardless of the outcome. KAJ’s Eurovision journey has already profoundly impacted at the local level, and their Eurovision experience serves as a culmination of this journey. As Anna Bertils powerfully states, “This with KAJ would will kind of open the doors for the municipality to a new era and a new way of thinking…and that’s maybe the most important thing, that we believe in the future, and we can see the opportunities and the possibilities that are right in front of in front of us.”
KAJ’s journey has already been a victory, showcasing their unique culture and fostering a powerful sense of local pride. It’s a reminder of how music can unite a community and place a small town at the center of a global event.
But further afield for Finland, not only are there two songs to cheer, but there’s the growth of how their culture can spread around the continent, while within the country in times of potential disharmony between the nation’s Finnish and Swedish speakers, music has truly united the nation behind the act from Vörå. Even if they forget sometimes they will be holding a Swedish flag as a part of the show.
That vision has hit KAJ as well. Speaking to Dagens Nyheter in Vörå before travelling to Basel, Jakob Norrgård from the band said the following.
“We are really happy that the Swedish public chose us, three Swedish-speaking Finns from Vörå. We are out here to represent Vörå, Finland and Sweden.
“But more than anything we represent the working together between Sweden and Finland.
“Now we are talking big politics.”
Who would have thought that a silly ditty about sauna culture, namechecking both Arja Saijonmaa and perkele, can actually make such a big difference to the real world. This Eurovision moment has sparked a renewed sense of hope and possibility, offering a positive vision for the future in a world that doesn’t always share that.
It’s going to be taking over Vörå all this week and beyond. Let’s see how far the joy spreads as the rest of Europe gets to meet Vörå’s most famous residents.