Salty Skin CI Festival

About this event

Salty Skin — Contact by the Sea is a co-creative Contact Improvisation festival on the island of Houtskär in the Turku Archipelago, southwest Finland. The festival runs August 4–9, 2026 at Skärgårdsskolan (the local archipelago school), with direct access to the sea, forest, and the quiet pace of island life. Each day opens with long morning jams, continues with unstructured time for rest and participant-led offerings, and closes with sauna, singing circles, evening jams, and night fire. The format is deliberately open: there are no fixed workshops or required attendance, and the programme emerges partly from what participants bring. Whether you're a seasoned mover or new to contact, all are welcome. Accommodation is on-site and all prices include home-cooked vegetarian meals and the full festival. Options range from bringing your own tent to shared or single rooms (bring your own sheets). The island is reached by train from Helsinki to Turku (~2 hrs), then bus and ferry to Houtskär (~3 hrs); the venue is 1.2 km from the Näsby bus stop. Organizers: Kristina Ahlman and Sergey Semichev. Contact: saltyskinfest@gmail.com or WhatsApp (+46 706 572 524 / +49 1525 9573652).