Helsinki to host world’s biggest dance health event this week

International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) will bring over 400 dance health experts to Helsinki. Altogether, Helsinki is hosting around 300 international association meetings this year.

The 28th Annual Conference of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) will take place in Helsinki from Thursday 25 to Sunday 28 October 2018. This is the first year that the conference is being held in Finland, and it is expected to attract over 400 delegates, including scientists, researchers, educators, physicians, allied health professionals and students.

“We initiated the application process for IADMS four years ago, when it was last held in Europe. It’s great to finally get to host the biggest and most important event in this field. At the same time, it gives us the opportunity to present Finland’s strong expertise in dance medicine and education,” says Johanna Osmala, President of Dance Health Finland.

The annual conference aims to promote the health, wellbeing and exercise of professional dances by developing educational, scientific and medical expertise in this field.

“The four-day event will present the latest research results and educational methods, for example. Finnish experts will address the special medical challenges faced by dancers and discuss the newest innovations. Finnish dance art will also be presented at a special evening gala on Saturday,” Osmala continues.

Attracting congresses to Helsinki has a positive social impact, as many leave a legacy in the host city in one way or another. For example, hosting the IADMS will open its doors to many Finnish experts in the field and allow them to meet their international colleagues. In addition, the Dance in Finland evening gala, which is open to everyone, will present both Finnish dance art and the contents of the conference to the general public.

Helsinki is a year-round and multifaceted congress city

Helsinki enjoyed a record year in 2017 in terms of both tourism and congresses. Helsinki hosted a total of 367 international association meetings that were attended by almost 72,000 congress visitors last year. This year Helsinki will host an estimated 300 congresses, the majority of which were organised between May and September.

“Even though around a half of all congresses in Helsinki take place during the summer months, they attract visitors all year round. The total number of congress visitors depends on the number and size of events, of course, but on average between 40,000 and 50,000 congress delegates visit Helsinki each year,” says Ines Antti-Poika, Convention Director at Helsinki Marketing.

According to statistics published by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Helsinki is among the leading congress cities in the Nordic region together with Copenhagen and Stockholm. The number of congresses in Helsinki has risen steadily over the past decade, and in terms of the number of delegates, Helsinki overtook Stockholm last year.

The statistics also reveal that almost half of all congresses organised in Helsinki are small, with 50 to 150 delegates. Similarly, 49 percent of congresses in Helsinki are European in scale, while there are also many global and Nordic congresses. Most congresses are in the fields of medicine and science, but Helsinki also attracts more congresses in the fields of education, culture and management than the other Nordic capitals.