Culture in the city of Vaasa
2 Vaasa is known for its diverse, high-quality cultural offerings. The city provides real gems ranging from rock to jazz concerts, stagings from drama to musicals, from modern art to crafts villages and from nature tourism to ghost stories. Two professional theatres, a student theatre, and smaller theatre for groups, provide fantastic experiences for friends of the stage. The city’s many museums and galleries treasure the area’s artistic heritage.
Culture in the city of Vaasa
Enjoyable moments with classical music are offered by the Vaasa City Orchestra, Vaasa Opera, chamber music ensembles and numerous other orchestras and choirs. Specializing in various types of cuisine, the city’s restaurants entertain their customers with a wide range of bands and styles year-round. Vaasa is full of events for all kinds of tastes: Vaasa Choir Festival, Korsholm Music Festival, the Night of the Arts, Vaasa Festival, the Vaasan Marssi walk, the Wildlife Vaasa International Nature Film Festival, the literature festival Vaasa Littfest, and Christmas Opening. The city’s rich array of events has something for everyone.
3 Culture in the city of Vaasa Welcome Office .......................................... 4 Vaasa City Library ....................................... 5 Vaasa City Theatre ..................................... 6 Wasa Teater .................................................. 7 Vaasa City Orchestra ................................. 8 ALMA Adult Education Centre ................ 9 Vaasa City Museums ................................. 10 Ostrobothnian Museum ............................ 11 Vaasa City Art Gallery ............................... 12 The Museum of Old Vaasa ...................... 13 Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art ............... 14 Tikanoja Art Museum ................................. 15 Vaasa City Culture Services ............................... 16 Vaasa Wildlife Festival .......................................... 17 The Night of the Arts ............................................. 18 Vaasa Choir Festival .............................................. 19 Vaasa LittFest .......................................................... 20 TaiKon - Basic Education in Arts ....................... 21 Kuula Institute – Learning Centre for Music and Dance .............................................. 22 Youth Services ......................................................... 23 Rental Venues .......................................................... 24 Vaasa City Hall ......................................................... 25 Ritz Culture Venue .................................................. 26 Culture House Fanny ............................................. 27 Culture grants and help desk ............................. 28 Become a volunteer ............................................... 29
Welcome Office provides low-threshold services: information and guidance for newcomers. Details about public services, language courses, working life and leisure activities, guide on immigration issues, and information about matters related to public services and Finnish society in general, are offered free of charge by Welcome Office. Besides Finnish and Swedish, Welcome Office supports people who have moved to Vaasa, giving information in different languages such as English, Persian (Farsi), Kurdish (Kurmanji), Turkish, and Arabic. 4 Welcome Office www.welcomeoffice.fi /welcomeoffice.fi Kirjastonkatu 13 +358 6 3251551 welcome.office@vaasa.fi
Are you passionate about reading stories or watching films? Are you thirsty for knowledge? Would you like to play the piano or do some 3D printing, but can’t do it at home? Do you need a place to read with somewhere to plug in a laptop? Then come to the library! We offer a comprehensive collection of material, comfortable facilities for gatherings and socialising, as well as plenty of events for both children and adults. The library is always nearby. Our service comes to you via the main library in the city centre, the branch libraries and the mobile library Rölli. Did you know: The first public lending library in Finland was founded in Vaasa in 1794. Some of the books that circulated in that first public library of the 18th century and books printed prior to the great fire that devastated the old city in 1852, among other documents, objects and photos, can still be seen both in the Vaasa City Library special collections archives and in the Finnish Library Museum located in the same building. City Library Kirjastonkatu 13 +358 6 3253533 Mon-Sat from 10:00 h. Sundays closed.
https://vaasankirjasto.finna.fi/ /vaasankaupunginkirjasto
5 Vaasa
kirjasto.info@vaasa.fi
Culture in the city of Vaasa
Vaasa City Theatre A house full of stories! Vaasa City Theatre was founded in 1942, and it is one of the region’s most noteworthy cultural operators. The theatre was originally built as a people’s hall more than a hundred years ago and the extension was built in 1992. There are two separate stages. Our wide-ranging productions include a variety of high-quality plays and musicals, both classics and new creations. One of the cornerstones of our programme is focusing on local topics about Vaasa and the Ostrobothnia region. We pay special attention to children’s theatre and our much loved musicals and opera productions complete our repertoire. Vaasa City Theatre is Vaasa City’s Finnish speaking theatre.
6 https://www.vaasankaupunginteatteri.fi/ /Vaasankaupunginteatteri Pitkäkatu 53 +358 6 3253961 vkt@vaasa.fi
7 https://www.wasateater.fi/ /wasateater Sandögatan 7 +358 6 3209330 info@wasateater.fi Mon-Sat 12:00-14:00 and 15:00-18:00 Wasa Teater A theatre full of adventure! Wasa Teater was founded in 1919. Now, with more than 100 years of history, the theater continues to offer theater as well as a variety of other entertainment in the center of Vaasa. They have in addition to their own scenes, a number of regional scenes around Ostrobothnia. The various stages always provide something new to experience for everyone, while a vast network of local businesses allow the theater to offer different kinds of hotel-restaurant and conference services allowing audiences to customize their visit to Wasa Teater in its unique environment. Wasa Teater is Vaasa City’s Swedish speaking theater. Culture in the city of Vaasa
Enjoy
8 http://www.vaasankaupunginorkesteri.fi/ /VaasaCityOrchestra Senaatinkatu 1, Vaasa City Hall, 2nd floor +358 40 8390547 vaasacityorchestra@vaasa.fi Mon-Sat 12:00-14:00 and 15:00-18:00
Wasa Teater Vaasa City Orchestra the classical music! Established in 1930, the Vaasa City Orchestra has 31 excellent musicians. It works and performs in the historical Vaasa City Hall, right in the centre of Vaasa. Tomas Djupsjöbacka has been the chief conductor of the orchestra since January 2021. Vaasa City Orchestra takes into account different sorts of target audiences. A concert performance filled with artistic music is a musical experience where the listener gets a chance to break away from everyday life and immerse themselves in the flow of music. Chamber music, symphonies, modern classical music, opera - something for everyone. Welcome!
The premises are located in Vaasa and in the towns Laihia, Isokyrö and Vähäkyrö. Study semesters run from September to December and from January to April. Culture in the city of Vaasa
9 vaasa.fi/ALMA /alma.vaasavasa Raastuvankatu 31 +358 40 0868110 alma@edu.vaasa.fi ALMA Adult Education Centre
The former called Vaasa-opisto and Vasa Arbis are now concentrated in one place: ALMA. Vaasa’s Alma Adult Education Centre ALMA offers people in Vaasa a chance to study a variety of subjects from a wide range of courses.
ALMA’s courses are designed to develop people's learning skills by studying exciting things that they can choose from the rich annual studying program. The courses are open to everyone, and they are mainly arranged during the evening.
Vaasa City Museums
10 - Admission fees: 9€ and 6€ if discount applies. - Entry is always free for people under 18. - Day Ticket to the Museums €12 and €9 if discount applies. - Free admission for the Museum of Old Vaasa and the Vaasa city Art gallery.
City of Vaasa has five museums that offers great cultural experiences: the Ostrobothnian Museum and Terranova Nature Center, Tikanoja Art Museum, Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa City Art Gallery and the Old Vaasa Museum. Vaasa City Museums seek to promote knowledge through exhibitions and other activities regarding culture, visual art and the natural environment. Different advised activities, guided tours, art clubs, workshops and lectures are organized in the museums. Both national and international exhibitions of art are a permanent feature of Vaasa’s artistic life. Museums are also a forum for interartistic collaboration: music, literature, dance and theatre, form a self-evident part in the museum operation.
11 Ostrobothnian Museum https://vaasankaupunginmuseot.fi /PohjanmaanMuseo Museokatu 3 +358 6 3253800 museoinfo@vaasa.fi Tue–Sun 10:00 to 17:00 h. Culture
Ostrobothnian Museum is the historic museum of the City of Vaasa, established in 1895. It functions also as a regional art museum and a museum of natural science. Ostrobothnian Museum collects, examines and preserves the cultural heritage of the region and oversees and maintains the historical remains, the constructed cultural environment and the natural heritage of the area. In order to strengthen these main areas, the museum maintains three permanent exhibitions: The Hedman Floor houses antiques and works of art, Vaasa 400, and Terranova. The Terranova was first opened to the public in 2002. The name “Terranova” is Latin for “new land” referring to the unique phenomena of the land uplift that occur in Vaasa region, especially at the Kvarken archipelago, where the land rises from the sea at a rate of 9 mm per year. The Kvarken archipelago was chosen in 2006 by UNESCO to become Finland’s first natural World Heritage site. in the city of Vaasa
https://vaasankaupunginmuseot.fi /vaasantaidehalli Senaatinkatu 1 D, Vaasa City Hall +358 40 1823839 museoinfo@vaasa.fi Tue-Sun from 11:00 to 17:00 h.
12 Vaasa City Art Gallery
Vaasa City Art Gallery is also known as the Museum Hall because it is situated on the ground floor of Vaasa City Hall. Built in 1883, the City Hall is the big door entrance for the art hall exhibitions. The Art Gallery opened in 1966. At that time, the facilities were renovated and turned into a modern and light exhibition room. Every year, the Vaasa Art Gallery is hosting 6 or 7 which visual arts and embracing culture urban identity of the city.
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13 Museum of Old Vaasa https://vaasankaupunginmuseot.fi /VanhanVaasanmuseo Kauppiaankatu 10, Vanha Vaasa +358 6 3253800 museoinfo@vaasa.fi Open in summer Culture in the city of Vaasa
The Museum of Old Vaasa is located in Wasastjerna house, built in 1780-1781 by shipowner, tradesman and assemblyman Abraham Falander (1746-1815), later known as the noble Wasastjerna. The building was the only privately owned stone building in the city that survived the great fire of 1852 when Old Vaasa was totally burned to the ground.
The Wasastjerna house opened as a museum in 1952, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the great fire.
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Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art to The Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art was opened to the public in February 2007. Its name honors Consul Simo Kuntsi, assiduous collector of modern and contemporary art, who had an important collection of more than one hundred art pieces, now protected and exhibited by the museum. This museum is situated in a former customs warehouse in the Inner Harbour of Vaasa. The building has 2,000 m² of space, which has been planned exclusively for museum activities. Thanks to the museum, both national and international exhibitions of modern and contemporary art are a permanent feature of Vaasa’s artistic life.
https://vaasankaupunginmuseot.fi /KuntsiMuseoMuseum Sisäsatama +358 40 1830440 kuntsi.info@vaasa.fi Tue–Sun 11:00
15 https://vaasankaupunginmuseot.fi /TikanojanTaidekotiMuseum Hovioikeudenpuistikko 4 +358 40 1828702 tikanoja.info@vaasa.fi Tue–Sun from 10:00 to 17:00 h. Culture in the city of Vaasa Tikanoja Art Museum The Tikanoja Art Museum is the previous home of Mr. Frithjof Tikanoja (1877-1964), a well known businessman in Vaasa, who had fallen in love with fine arts in the late 1910’s and immediately started collecting paintings and drawings. The art museum was founded when Tikanoja donated his art collection to the city in 1951. The museum also organizes workshops and educational activities related to its exhibits.
Vaasa City Culture Services
Culture Services are responsible for overall cultural activity in the city. We create the frames for versatile culture supply and we take part in affecting and developing Vaasa as a culture city. We do cooperation with the local residents and cultural actors, highlight the importance of cultural activity in everyday life and the well-being of people of all ages, especially for children and elderly people. We organize different kinds of cultural events and happenings, for example Wildlife Vaasa Festival, the Night of the Arts, and Vaasa Choir Festival. We are also involved in managing the culture grants, give out information about cultural activities and services in Vaasa and provide help with stage, light and sound technology. We support with information and expert advice on organizing events, help with networking in the area, etc. and from 10:00 to 15:00 h.
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https://vaasa.fi /Vaasankaupunginkulttuurikeskus Kirjastonkatu 13 kulttuurikeskus@vaasa.fi
sanna.bondas@vaasa.fi Tue–Sun
Vaasa Wildlife Festival
Festival's themes are related to climate change, people's relationship with Nature and its conservation. Celebrating its 20 years, the festival will be held in September-October 2022.
Vaasa Wildlife Festival is an International Nature Film Festival, organized in Vaasa every two years since 2002. The festival hosts a film competition, which gets participants from all over the world. So far, the festival has screened around 1,300 films from 100 countries. The film competition enables free public screenings that are available to all people in Vaasa before, during and after the festival days. Vaasa Wildlife Festival reflects to the rest of the world the unique Nature and the green assets of Vaasa region and the region of Ostrobothnia.
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Culture in the city of Vaasa from 10:00 to 15:00 h.
https://vaasa.fi /vaasawildlifefestival Kirjastonkatu 13 +358 40 1394048 ilias.missyris@vaasa.fi Tue–Sun
18 The Night of the Arts www.vaasa.fi/en/night-of-arts /vaasantaiteidenyo +358 40 0668197 taiteidenyo@vaasa.fi Beginning of August
The events are held mostly for free along the city, for example the market place, pedestrian streets, Rewell, Vaasa City Museums, the City church and park, the Gustavsborg beach, the old garrison area, the theatres, and the main library.The event offers something for everyone - families, art lovers, senior citizens. Come and enjoy the music, laughter, exhibitions, performances and the warm feeling we have during the Night of the Arts.
The Night of the Arts has been arranged every year in the beginning of August since 1991 and it has been the most popular event for years. It offers a great performing night with all kinds of artistic and cultural events floating the city in different places.
19 Vaasa Choir Festivalhttps://www.vaasa.fi /vaasachoirfestival Kirjastonkatu 13 +358 40 0564469 ilkka.nyqvist@vaasa.fi In May
Culture in the city of Vaasa Vaasa Choir Festival is an international major event for singing and choral music. Nearly one hundred concerts take place during the five days of the festival. Vaasa Choir Festival is a social celebration of the end of the choral season and it is open for all choirs and vocal ensembles. Music can be heard in churches, concert halls, schools, restaurants etc.
The main performers at the Festival consist of various national and international top choirs and vocal ensembles. World music, barbershop and more traditional choral music go hand in hand in this five-day-long happy festival. The XXVIII edition will be held in spring May 2022.
20 Vaasa Littfesthttp://www.vaasa.fi/littfest /vaasalittfest Kirjastonkatu 13 +358 40 0564469 ilkka.nyqvist@vaasa.fi In November Vaasa Littfest is a bilingual FinnishSwedish literature festival, arranged annually at the Vaasa City Library. The program, which is free of charge for attendees, includes discussion between writers, book presentations, interviews, lectures and public readings, school visits, children's programs, and more.
TaiKon - Basic Education in Arts 40
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Culture in the city of Vaasa TaiKon offers qualitative basic education in arts in Vaasa to children and young people. The teaching is intended for children and youngsters (4-18 year olds) and is held in their spare time. Studies do not require special talent from the student. The teachers are professionals within the different forms of art and they are pedagogically oriented artists. The activities are arranged in secure and appropriate spaces, depending on the art chosen by the kids. The teaching groups gather during the afternoons and evenings 1-3 times per week, depending on which type of art the students are attending. Teaching is provided in six different arts subjects: Visual Arts, Dance, Crafts, Theatre, Circus and Media Arts.
0256961 taikon@edu.vaasa.fi
http://www.vaasa.fi/taikon /taikon.vaasa Kasarmi 11, Itäinen Kasarmintori 7-9 +358
22 Kuula Institute https://www.vaasa.fi/en/kuula-institute /kuulavaasavasa Laivakatu 16 (+358) 40 0430131 kuula-opisto@edu.vaasa.fi
Kuula Institute is an art institute for children and young people whose task is to organize instruction in music, dance and other related art forms. The instruction helps the pupils to develop creative and diverse interest in music, dance and performing, as well as prepares them for vocational studies in the field. The key objective of Kuula Institute is to build up a positive attitude towards music and dance. The main premises of Kuula Institute are situated in Vaasa with branches in Laihia and Isokyrö. There are some discounts and a few free places available with certain restrictions, but these do not apply to open-studies students. The Open Department of Kuula Institute operates based on cost price and the students finance their studies themselves. The instruction of the department is not bound by any curricula.
23 Youth Servicesvaasa.fi a and reimari.info /youngvaasa and /reimari.infoa Raastuvankatu 30, 2nd floor +358 40 5687978 and +358 40 5207112 reimari@vaasa.fi and nuorisopalvelut@vaasa.fi
The City of Vaasa's youth services offer young people from Vaasa a wide range of low-threshold services for everyday and leisure time. The work contains many kinds of activities and events oriented to young people: band and musical activities, concerts, camps, theatre, dance, skating, manual skills and multiculturalism. We offer as well music and band education in Rock school (Rokkikoulu) and the thrills of speed at the Skate Hall. From the youth information and guidance services pages at Reimari, you can find information about various leisure activities arranged in and around Vaasa. The information and support they provide is aimed at young people under 29 years. The Youth Services work is based on voluntariness and the equality and equity of all humans. The cultural manners and upbringing are taken into account in the work that is carried out from the multicultural sensibility. Reimari has a multicultural youth page in Vaasa. From Reimari’s webpage you will find information like: applying for residence permit and citizenship, local education options, leisure time, culture, health and wellbeing, information about drugs and addiction, Rights and duties, and more.
Culture in the city of Vaasa
Rental Venues
https://www.vaasa.fi/
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The City of Vaasa has beautiful cultural venues with characteristics suitable for all kinds of tastes, styles and budgets, which can be rented by individuals, groups, associations and institutions for their different special events such as conferences, concerts, sporting events, meetings, or even for more artistic and creative occasions. Many places have additional technology rental services in case extra microphones, sound equipment and lighting technology are needed at events. Throughout the city you can find spaces for business environments, for formalities, for family, professional, casual, formal or relaxed environments. In our city you can find both spacious spots for extensive and crowded forums or even smaller and more private and intimate ones. Vaasa City Hall, Ritz Vaasa’s culture venue and Culture House Fanny are just three examples. For other options, check the City of Vaasa's web page (venues). Kirjastonkatu
25 Vaasa City Hall The City Hall was designed by the architect Magnus Isaeus in 1883. The Fest Hall has room for about 380 people. Different festivities and concerts are arranged in the hall. The City Hall’s other rooms – Chamber Music Hall, Hall of Mirrors and Grande Negotiation Room – can also be reserved for meetings, concerts and congress activities. Take into account that the City Hall is not rented out for events organised by private individuals (e.g. dinners, weddings) but only for associations, organisations and hcompanies. ttps://www.vaasa.fi /vaasankaupunki Senaatinkatu 1 (+358) 40 7729733 jari.suomela@vaasa.fi and kenneth.salmensuo@vaasa.fi Culture in the city of Vaasa
Ritz Culture Venue is a movie theatre located in the centre of Vaasa. Opened 70 years ago, in 1952, this cultural building was designed by J.S. Sirén. Its walls are designed to improve the acoustics of the place. Ritz is protected by the National Board of Antiquities and has been restored in a traditional fashion. This cultural space continues to have the nostalgic atmosphere of the 50s. Ritz is driven now by the nonprofit association Skafferiet rf, founded in 2008. The association offers a wide range of cultural events like concerts and screenings, generally art films screenings, and serves as a meeting point for culture and art. With 318 seats on two levels with uninterrupted views of the stage, Ritz can be rented by organizers for public and private events. The venue can also be booked for private film screenings. There is a bar on the second floor at Ritz and the place also has a bar on the balcony.
https://ritz.fi /RitzVasa Kirkkopuistikko 22A (+358) 44 5030031 skafferiet@ritz.fi
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Ritz Culture Venue
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Culture House Fanny
The Culture House Fanny was built by the end of the 19th century. Its name is in homage to Fanny Churberg (1845-1892), one of the best-known Finnish landscape painters in Vaasa. Culture House Fanny’s goal is to support the development of the city of Vaasa as a cultural city. This is achieved by supporting interaction between people from various backgrounds and countries, encouraging people to independently produce cultural activities and supporting general cultural activity in the city. Rooms of the house can be rented for meetings, celebrations and events. House is managed by the Culture Services. Some important information to consider for renting the space: the capacity of the Main Hall is 160 people (chairs), 200 people (without chairs), it has 27 tables (4 persons by table). Sizes: Hall 204.5 m2, Stage 46.5 m2. Ramp access and accessible toilet. Culture in the city of Vaasa www.vaasa.fi/en/culture-house-fanny Kirkkopuistikko 34 (+358) 40 5010240 fanny@vaasa.fi
28 Culture grants and help desk www.vaasa.fi Kirjastonkatu 13 kulttuurikeskus@vaasa.fi The City of Vaasa gives every year grants for artists, culture organizations and associations to support the actors and have diverse cultural activities happening in the city. The applying month is January and applications are send via electrical system Timmi. For information about the grants and how to apply, if you have any questions about cultural activities in Vaasa, or if you need our advice and expertise for subsidies, renting places for events, about organizing a cultural event, info about volunteering, contact the department of Culture Services in Vaasa City Library.
Culture in the city of Vaasa
www.vaasa.fi Kirjastonkatu 13 (+358) 40 0668197 kulttuurikeskus@vaasa.fi, leena.nyqvist@vaasa.fi and seija.nyqvist@vaasa.fi
One of the best and most interesting ways to get to know and be introduced to the life in Vaasa is through volunteering. It also keeps you socially and intellectually active, at the same time that you contribute with your time to make our community a little better each time. You get involved in an area that interests you and you enjoy, in which you will surely grow and learn. And everything according to your possibilities, at the schedule that you decide, for the period you want. The experience of volunteering is unique and it is one that you cannot miss. The city of Vaasa provides many opportunities for you to become a volunteer. You can find many cultural activities in which, without a doubt, you have a lot to add up. Although if you are more interested in other areas not related to culture and art, obviously that is possible too!
Become a volunteer
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30 Sanna Bondas Acting Director of Culture and Library Services (+358) 40 1394048 sanna.bondas@vaasa.fi Culture Services Kirjastonkatu 13 Vaasa City Library, 3rd floor