Times Square Church musicians to headline Glow Festival at Nokia Arena

Musicians from New York's Times Square Church will perform at Tampere's Nokia Arena on Saturday 29 August, according to Tamperelainen. The concert continues Nokia Arena's summer run of big shows in Tampere, following the Haloo Helsinki sing-along in April and the busy August festival weekend that featured Blockfest and Festivaali.

Now in its third year, the festival has become one of Finland's largest Christian pop-rock events. Finnish conductor Jukka "Juke" Palonen leads the concert. He has overseen Times Square Church's music for 15 years and helped craft the program with artistic director Lasse Sakara.

Finnish performers include Diandra, Ilta and Mirella. The bill also features Jepa Lambert, the Sounds of Mercy choir, Lasse Sakara's bands, Pekka Ruuska, Jukka Leppilampi and Pekka Simojoki. Diandra says she first visited the church in 2016 and has returned many times; the choir and band deepened her love of gospel music.

Expect intimate acoustic sets, communal singing, urban gospel and large band shows. The festival will hand out Glow Gospel Awards to honour notable contributors to the scene.