The Finnish Tourism Board has spent years quietly insisting that its country’s cuisine is “the world’s last undiscovered cuisine.” That is either a remarkable piece of honesty in an industry built on superlatives, or the most effective reverse-psychology campaign in Scandinavian history. Possibly both.
Now Finland is putting money where its mouth is. Visit Finland has launched a programme called “Have Some Finnish,” offering sixteen people an all-expenses-paid four-day trip to the country, split across two regions, with food at the centre of it all. No catch beyond a social media video and a filled-in form. Sixteen people. The whole world eligible. The odds are not great.
The programme divides into two experiences. The first takes eight participants along Finland’s coastline and archipelago, guided by Michelin-starred chef Erik Mansikka of restaurant Kaskis. The second sends eight more north to Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, which sits precisely on the Arctic Circle and, for reasons that will be familiar to parents of young children, also serves as the official hometown of Santa Claus. There, chef Joel Manninen will cook.
Manninen won the Finnish Young Chefs Championship in 2025 and took silver at the Young Chefs World Championship in 2026, which is a reasonable argument for taking the invitation seriously.
Finnish food does not arrive with much ceremony. No elaborate sauces, no fashionable heat. Rye bread. Salmon soup. Karelian pies filled with rice porridge and served with egg butter, which sounds like a peculiar combination until it isn’t.
In Lapland, reindeer, mashed potatoes, and lingonberries. The cuisine is shaped by winters that go on longer than anyone should have to endure and summers short enough to make every berry feel urgent. There is a logic to it.
To apply, candidates must post a video on Instagram or TikTok answering the question, “Why do you want to Have Some Finnish?”, then complete an official application form. Couples may apply together. The deadline is June 9, 2026, at 11:59 am Finnish time.
The coastal trip runs from August 31 to September 4. Lapland follows from September 7 to September 11, during the ruska season, when the forests turn amber and the sky, on clear nights, occasionally produces the Northern Lights as an afterthought.
Visit Finland’s website describes the experience as a “once-in-a-lifetime invitation from the world’s happiest nation.” That last phrase does a lot of heavy lifting. Finland consistently tops global happiness rankings, which is either a vindication of the Finnish approach to life or a warning that the metrics are measuring something other than what we think. Either way, the salmon soup is free.
