Finland has come up with an original way to attract tourists in winter: The country's tourism board is offering 16 singles from around the world a four-day culinary vacation, with flights, accommodations and meals fully covered.
The highlight of the trip will be a group blind date over a table laden with Finnish delicacies, in the hope that participants will find love — or at least fall in love with the country. The initiative, scheduled for February 2027 and applications are already being accepted.
The initiative, called Finnish Dinner Date, will take place between February 9 and 19, 2027. Sixteen participants will be selected from among the applicants and divided into two groups of eight. One group will travel to Helsinki, Finland's capital, while the other will visit Tampere, a city in the country's lake district. Each group will enjoy a four-day itinerary combining sightseeing, outdoor activities, sauna experiences and introductions to local culture and cuisine. Winners will not be able to choose their destination and will learn where they are going only after confirming their participation.
The highlight of each trip will be a festive candlelit dinner, where the eight international guests will be joined by two local singles. The gathering will take place in a group setting rather than as a series of one-on-one dates. Organizers also emphasize that the initiative is not a matchmaking service and that there is no guarantee participants will find romantic partners.
Two leading Finnish chefs will be responsible for the tasting menus. In Helsinki, the dinner will be led by chef Adela Kinnunen, head chef at Café Savoy, who has appeared on MasterChef: The Professionals. In Tampere, guests will be served a menu created by chef Henri Tikkanen, who previously represented Finland at the prestigious Bocuse d'Or culinary competition.
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A romantic vacation in Finland. You might even find love along the way
(Photo: PeopleImages / shutterstock)
The romantic initiative also has a clear tourism goal: introducing Finnish cuisine to visitors from around the world. As part of a broader campaign called Have Some Finnish, the tourism board asked Finns to choose the dishes they believe best represent their country and its different regions. Local chefs then used those selections to create four official tasting menus showcasing Finland's culinary traditions. Finnish cuisine draws heavily on locally sourced ingredients, including wild fish, game meat, mushrooms and berries.
The idea of combining food and dating was inspired by a phenomenon that went viral in Finland: pink shopping baskets known as sinkkukori, which singles use to signal to other shoppers that they are available and interested in meeting someone. Instead of swiping right or left on dating apps, they simply go shopping with a pink basket.
"Finnish food is a direct expression of our happy way of life and a way to connect with a place, the seasons and the people around us," said Heli Jimenez, senior director of international marketing at Business Finland. According to Jimenez, organizers hope participants will fall in love with one another, Finnish cuisine or Finland itself.
How to apply
"Finnish food is a direct expression of our famously happy way of life: a way of connecting to place, to season, and to the people around you," said Heli Jimenez, senior director of international marketing at Business Finland. "Food brings Finns together, and now we are inviting travellers to join us in a truly one-of-a-kind way."
According to Jimenez, organizers hope participants will fall in love with one another, Finnish cuisine or Finland itself.
The video must be uploaded to Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, include the hashtag #FinnishDinnerDate and tag the Finnish tourism board's official account: @ourfinland on Instagram, @visitfinland.com on TikTok or @VisitFinland on YouTube.
Here is a video submitted by one of the single women who entered the competition:
On Instagram and TikTok, applicants' accounts must be public, and the videos must remain available for viewing at least until the winners are announced. Those who prefer not to share their videos publicly can upload them to YouTube as unlisted, meaning only people with the link can view them. However, applicants should be aware that under the campaign's official rules, organizers may use submitted videos for advertising and marketing purposes, even if they were uploaded as unlisted.
Koli National Park in Finland's lake district
(Photo: fokke baarssen / shutterstock)
Helsinki, Finland
(Photo: shutterstock)
After uploading the video, applicants must visit FinnishDinnerDate.com, complete the application form and include a link to their video. Each candidate may submit only one application. A panel of judges appointed by the organizers will select the 16 participants based on the creativity, originality and authenticity of their videos.
Applications will close Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at 11:59 a.m. Israel time. Winners will be notified individually, and their names will be announced December 1 on the Finnish tourism board's Instagram and TikTok accounts.
Flights, accommodations, meals and activities included in the vacation will be covered by the organizers. However, participants will be responsible for purchasing appropriate travel insurance and obtaining the necessary travel documents.
And as for finding love? That, of course, is something no one can guarantee.